SPR: Is This Normal?
by 14AmyChan
Summary: Was titled "The Briar and The Rose". It has been about three months since they found Eugene Davis, ten weeks since Oliver/Naru left, and now the team is back together in Japan, solving cases and hunting ghosts. But something is not right about our favorite duo. What is it, I wonder...? T cause that's how I rate anything with death
1. A Normal Day in the office

_**14AmyChan: okay, so I've been working on this idea for a while, and I've already written a few chapters. I'm just gonna space 'em out so I can try to get even further ahead. ^^;**_

_**Mai: So all of you know, this happens about three months after the cannon storyline ends.**_

_**Naru: You counted ten weeks, five days, eight hours and twenty seven minutes, remember?**_

_**Mai: THEY DIDN'T HAVE TO KNOW THAT!**_

_**14AmyChan: actually, they do. So, I hope you guys sit back and enjoy the prologue of this story~! *^_^***_

"Mai, tea," a young man dressed all in black called out from his office. He heard the grumbling of his assistant and smirked. He had definitely missed that, though he had no particular inclination as to why. Being a child prodigy had influenced his thinking scholarly, not in the way of social norms.

The boy in question went by a few names. One of them was Oliver Davis, a paranormal expert who approached the supernatural from a scientific view so his work would not be discredited and a powerful PK user. Another was Kazuya Shibuya, a recently returned boss of the Shibuya Psychic Research Center, who took paranormal cases to gain evidence of the supernatural, yet did no more than that on his own. The last was Naru the Narcissist, so called by his assistant and eventually by his coworkers as well. They all seemed to believe that this man had no love other than for himself.

The statement, though already untrue, had proven itself even more false over the past few months.

He had recently found the body of his dead twin brother at the bottom of a lake, and that being the only reason he had come to Japan, he left it behind soon thereafter. However, not all was the same in his home. He had found himself on more than one occasion straining his ears to hear the normal chit chat of the office, if only to tell his friends from Japan to not use his office as a café. He would call for tea, and when he had it, he would feel as if it could be better if made by a certain someone.

But most of all, he kept waiting for a certain klutzy assistant to need his help. He listened for papers to fall, someone to trip, or subtle chaos of any kind to happen back in his office in London. There was no Mai to tease, and his mood plummeted for it. It had taken an even worse turn whenever he thought of how they had parted, with him rejecting her confession.

In his mind, her confession was not meant for him, but rather for his dead twin, Eugene, who had been visiting her in her dreams. A boy with a kind, joking personality and cheerful smile, Gene had always been the polar opposite of Naru, and far more popular for it. Naru was stubborn and work-driven. He took any and every matter seriously, except for when sarcastic jabs could be made—usually to tease or at the expense of people in his extremely close circle of friends and family. He did not usually give into emotions of any sort unless they were strong. So imagine his surprise when—

_Knock, knock_

"Come in," Naru stated, attempting to regain his concentration on the papers before him. He had returned to Japan exactly one week ago after two months of absence, and had just finished unpacking when a flood of cases came in for him to read. Many of these cases had been turned down by Madoka at first, so the prospective clients had seemingly hoped for a change in mind with the change in leadership. They did not know that Madoka was the more lenient of the two, and the boring and faux cases that repeated themselves managed to cause a slip in his concentration.

When Naru's concentration slipped, he needed his tea to refocus it. Mai seemed to think he had a tea addiction with how many times he called for it. The only reason was that—although he would never tell her—she made some of the best tea he had ever tasted. Or so he told himself. It was most certainly not because he enjoyed watching her get flustered. Of course not.

The assistant on his mind then walked in. Mai had not changed much in his absence, save that her hair had grown an inch or two longer. She was currently wearing an orange tank top with a pair of fingerless, elbow-length gloves that were the same shade of orange with alternating thick black stripes. She also wore a short black skirt with a dull reddish orange leggings and white tennis shoes. Naru raised an eyebrow at her style, but had not questioned it thus far. The less could be same of her.

"Ne, Naru, why do you still wear black?" she inquired as she set the tea in front of him. Her caramel eyes shone with curiosity and a hint of concern. Naru did his best to wave it off as he hid behind his stoic façade.

"Because I look good in it, and it's a comfortable color," Naru replied easily. He enjoyed the flustered look that came across Mai's face that came with him being right. He took a sip of his tea, feeling its effects quickly.

"There are other colors, too! Why don't you try blue or something?" Mai asked, trying to gain the upper hand of the conversation. Naru ducked the point easily.

"I don't see why I have to explain my fashion choices to you," he pointed out. With some tea in his system, he found it a little easier to concentrate on the papers in front of him, though the effect was void in itself when the certain tea _maker_ was around. She did not seem to realize just how much of his attention she actually commanded when she was present. He attempted to busy himself with the papers in front of him.

"It's because—oh, never mind!" Mai announced in a flustered huff as she left the office, her face beet red. Naru glanced up curiously at the door his assistant had just slammed. It was not very like her to drop an argument in the middle like that. Had he not had enough on his plate at that moment, he probably would have gone to observe her and try to discern what the matter was. As it was, he did not have the time, so he simply tried to read through the cases as quickly and efficiently as possible.

He took another sip of tea.

* * *

Mai could not believe how close she had been to telling him that she was worried. Over the past ten weeks, five days, eight hours and twenty seven minutes, her feelings for her cold-hearted boss had not managed to leave her be.

In fact, they had grown substantially.

In her mind, it was irrational on all accounts. Yes, he was good-looking, but so was his brother. Why had she not fallen in love with him, as Naru was so keen on asking. Then answer seemed to be simple: Gene was not Naru.

To other people, Naru seemed to believe that he was flawless. Mai could see that he was plainly not, and even the fact that the boy had realized that about himself. Where everyone else would scoff at him, Mai would see his brain fully at work, backtracking, seeing if anything had gone wrong. Over time, she had grown to see that Naru—yes, Naru, not Gene—had a genuine heart that cared for people. He had inadvertently shown it from time and time, when he would use his PK to keep his friends and coworkers safe, even if it meant gaining an injury, from minor to even landing himself in a hospital.

However, if caring for people like that got him into a hospital and caused him that much pain, she could see why he would instantly want to push others away. Which he had done to the entire SPR team at first. However, little by little, he had seemed to accept them as a group. Mai only wished that he had accepted her and how she had grown to feel for him.

Before he had left for England, she had confessed her feelings for him. He had answered her in turn with a question that had ripped her heart out. Him or Gene?

She had lost many hours of sleep over this question, not because she did not know the answer, but how she would apologize to the kinder of the twins. She had time and time again called him her "Dream Naru", for his smiles and kindness. How rotten that must have been, to have been repeatedly mistaken for your twin. After death, the only true things you have are your name and your memories, and she had inadvertently stripped Eugene Davis of one.

However, she had never gotten the chance to apologize. For as soon as Naru left her, Gene had vanished. She supposed it was only rational that he would have followed his twin, yet she never truly had the chance to apologize, and was all the more sorry for it.

Mai came to sit down at her desk and return to what she had been doing previously. In other words, be completely bored out of her brain. It was a slow day at SPR, with no new cases and no one else around. The office was quiet and somewhat lonesome. Naru and Lin were both in their respective offices, Madoka had returned to England two days prior, and everyone else was scattered to the winds.

It came as a blessed relief when the bell above the door chimed, signaling the walk-in of a prospective client.

_**14AmyChan: yeah, I know my writing style's a little flowery, but I hope you guys liked it nonetheless.**_

_**Mai: The chapters will all be about the same length for a while. After that, who knows...**_

_**Naru: Certainly not either of you two idiots.**_

_**14AmyChan and Mai: *glare at Naru***_

_**Naru: *deflects both of them with a glare to the audience* you have read, and now you will review. Because I say so.**_

_**14AmyChan: NO! it's because they're nice! Right?**_

_**...**_

_**Right...? *crickets* ...hello?**_


	2. Case 1: The Briar and The Rose-1

_**14AmyChan: okay, so I've decided that I'll try to update on Tuesdays and Fridays. **_

_**Mai: And thank you to all you awesome people who followed this story!**_

_**14AmyChan: OMIGOSHYUS! That means a lot to me!**_

_**Naru: If you're done acting like idiots...**_

_**14AmyChan and Mai: *blow raspberries at Naru***_

_**Naru: Chan-san does not own Ghost Hunt. Read.**_

"Excuse me for the interruption," a woman spoke quietly, opening the front door. She looked to be in her late twenties or early thirties. She was short and thin, her skin pale and her blonde hair hung down her back, almost in a depressed manner. She wore a long tan coat, perfect for the crisp air outside, and a plumb dress shirt. She had black slacks with similarly colored flats.

"Good morning, may I help you?" Mai spoke brightly and with enthusiasm, as if she had not just been bored out of her ever-loving mind. The woman's eyes—which had been traveling around the office in confusion and curiosity—darted to Mai, and she offered a dry and somewhat reserved smile.

"I've heard that this office deals in the… well…" the woman seemed at a loss for her words for a moment when Mai interjected kindly.

"The supernatural?" Mai asked softly. It was natural for most of their clients to be wary by the time they reached SPR, and the young high schooler already knew how to react to this situation. "My name is Mai Taniyama, why don't you take a seat here while I get my boss? He'll listen to your case. Would you like a cup of tea?"

"Oh, yes please," the woman responded, somewhat taken aback by the girl's friendly nature and warm smile. The blonde then proceeded to sit on a comfortable couch and await "the boss", all the while wondering if she made the right choice by coming.

She did not have to wait long, for soon thereafter, one of the doors leading out of the room in which she was sitting opened and revealed a tall man with a laptop under his arm. His dark bangs covered half of his face, which was stoic. She jumped out of her seat, yet remained standing where she was.

"Are you the boss here?" she asked, feeling the need to ask for these people's help as quickly as possible so she could get it over with. They had been their last option. Sadly, the tall man with bangs covering half his face shook his head and proceeded to sit to the side of the area she was in. The young woman bit her lip in worry.

"He is one of my assistants," a voice came from the side and made the woman spin around. What met her vision was not at all what she expected. A young man—no older than seventeen or eighteen—with raven black hair stared at her with carefully guarded blue eyes.

"My name is Kazuya Shibuya and I am the owner of SPR. I will be listening to your case," the young man—Naru as we know him—said as he took a seat opposite the couch. The woman hurriedly sat down with a quick thank you, a persona of complete business shining through.

"What is your name?" Naru asked the woman. She straightened her back and seemed to put away her personal qualms with the supernatural and its investigators. She had come to ask for help, and darn it, she would not leave without doing so.

"My name is Yuuki Takanashi," the woman said with a definitive air. It was strong, but not overbearing. Lin was already sitting to the side and typing away at everything that was being said. Mai had—by now—poured and served the promised tea to both her boss and the client. The woman sipped at the tea, the liquid visibly relaxing her, if only slightly. Naru opened a folder in front of him and scanned it. Mai set his tea in front of him.

"What sort of problems are you experiencing?" Naru asked, straight to the point. It was not in his personality to mince words and had only asked her name for filing purposes later. Yuuki had taken a sip of her tea, and at the question, set the cup down calmly. She reminded herself of all the people she could have gone to, these seemed the most realistic and the least likely to be faux. With that reasoning tucked behind her ear, she began to relay the past couple of weeks to this impossible facility.

"My mother and I moved into this house at the beginning of the fall season. It seemed unsettling, but it was sturdy and cheap for its location, so we took it. Though, lately, there have been some disturbances," Yuuki pause a moment, recollecting exact events so as to better relay her need of their help.

"The house was quiet at first, but then we'd hear noises. There would be knocking around, times and places when the temperature would drop suddenly, appliances are turning on and off by themselves, some things in our house would be shifted around, and then there's my mother…" the blonde stopped for a moment, wondering just how much information to give this team who had not even promised their help yet. Alas, she had already stated something, and she had every intention of finishing her statement.

"Has she been acting strangely?" Mai asked, wondering what the holdup was about. This woman seemed to be wrapped in a protective barrier of business, but the high schooler could tell this woman was more than a little uneasy. She was not, however, rude, and Mai was grateful for that much.

"Yes, she has," Yuuki admitted. At this point, she knew she would have to explain her last living relation's odd behavior. She, despite how calm she appeared on the outside, desperately prayed that they would help after hearing this. "For the past few days, she's been waking up extremely early and heading out the front door. There's an old garden there that I haven't gotten around to working with yet, but lately mother's been sticking her hand in the old rosebush. Her arms are scratched from who knows how many times she's done this, and I don't know if it will stay this way or escalate to something worse."

"Maybe your mother is adjusting to the new environment or needs to be checked into a psychiatric hospital," Naru stated. Yet, to Mai's surprise, he did not snap the folder shut, indicating that the conversation would be over. Instead, he watched the woman to gauge her reaction. She shook her head with a definitive air.

"Mother has no recollection of these events and I've already taken her to a normal hospital. Other than the scratches, she's as healthy as a horse and there are no traces of Alzheimer's," Yuuki stated, and this caused Mai's eyes to widen a little bit. Generally, their clients would look to the team to prove that they were not crazy; this girl seemed to have already crossed that off the list herself. Perhaps coming here was a last-ditch effort…?

"We'll take the case. My team and I will need three rooms, two for overnight usage and one for a base. It will need a lot of electrical outlets," Naru stated, snapping his folder shut. He stood and Yuuki followed suit. Lin had already disappeared into his office, having typed all of the information by now and was now in the process of getting prepared for the newest case. "Can that be arranged?"

"Yes, it can," Yuuki stated, her expression showing a multitude of expressions. There was relief, uncertainty, and worry that colored her face. Naru seemed not to notice as he continued with business as usual.

"Leave your contact information with my assistant, then. We will arrive the day after tomorrow," Naru announced before turning around and walking into his office, shutting the door firmly behind him. With that cold and obvious send-off, Mai turned to Yuuki with an apologetic smile.

"Don't worry about him, he gets like that. Now, where are we going?" Mai asked, having already pulled out a paper and pencil to write down directions, or at the very least an address. Yuuki chuckled and shook her head, then pulled out a map of her own.

"It's actually not that bad, but you can loose your way in the woods if you're not careful. My mother and I live right outside of Hokuto, by Mount Asayo," Yuuki explained as she circled a portion on the map. She then provided Mai with a picture of the house.

"It's the only one around, so I don't think you'll have a lot of trouble finding the right one," she explained as she gathered her purse, leaving the picture and map with Mai. The younger woman accepted the items before leading their new client to the door with a curious expression.

"You came a long way to find us here in Shibuya," Mai observed. Yuuki sighed and seemed to shrug her shoulders in defeat.

"You people seemed the most professional and scientific. I'm not bashing on the other facilities, but they're too far-fetched for me to believe them. I'd rather have hard evidence than someone telling me that my house is haunted. I think that proof is a lot better than someone's word, Taniyama-san," Yuuki's short explanation exhausted itself when the duo reached the door.

"That makes sense. Oh, and one more thing," Mai smiled as she led Yuuki into the crisp autumn air, pausing only a moment to allow Yuuki to don her coat. "It's just Mai."

"Really?" Yuuki asked, a genuine smile showing in spite of herself. She chucked good-naturedly, and Mai knew she was a good person. A little rigid at first, perhaps, but good all the same. "Well, then, you can call me Yuuki, all right?"

"All right," Mai agreed happily. She bid the blonde-haired woman farewell and stood on the steps of SPR for a few moments longer than necessary, lost in her thoughts. She wondered vaguely about how this new case would pan out and hoped that it would be a mild case where no one got hurt.

_**14AmyChan: okay, so that's the intro to the case and to my OC, Yuuki! yayz!**_

_**Yuuki: Please take good care of me in this story.**_

_**Naru: Have you read what she does to her original characters?**_

_**Yuuki: ...no... is it that bad?**_

_**Mai: I feel sorry for you. *hugs Yuuki***_

_**Yuuki: *is confused***_

_**14AmyChan: I'm not that terrible!**_

_**Mai: *picks up Soldiers and points at it***_

_**14AmyChan: *sweat drops* uh... hey, don't forget to read and review!**_

_**Yuuki: ... should I be scared?**_


	3. Case 1: The Briar and The Rose-2

_**14AmyChan: Okay, so here's the next chapter. Not a lot happens here, but I thought it would be funny to write. *^_^***_

_**Mai: why does everyone love to interrupt my sleeping?**_

_**Naru: Because you are needed in places other than your dreams.**_

_**Mai: Where, with you? *realizes what she has said, then blushes***_

_**Naru: ...**_

_**14AmyChan: As they have their weird lover's tiff, enjoy the story using characters I do not own~! *^_^***_

Before Mai knew it, a day had come and gone. During that short period of twenty four hours, she had called up their coworkers and friends to help out with the case, and—upon hearing that most everyone could make it—had set about packing. It was now five-thirty in the morning and the brunette was fast asleep in her comfortable bed, dreaming a normal dream about taco salads and dancing dango.

And then her phone began to vibrate.

_Zzzt! Zzzt!_

Needless to say, Mai was not happy with having her sleep interrupted. Especially when the vibrations caused the phone in question to slowly edge off of her dresser and somehow fall onto her sleeping head. Blearily awake, she made a grab for the device and cursed all forms of light as the LED screen blared in her face.

_Mai:  
Wake up and get to work. You need to help load the van.  
-Naru/The Boss_

Mai groaned and turned over, somewhat regretting the fact that Naru had gotten her a phone because of her label as the ghost magnet. He had told her it was so she could call for help when she needed it, but so far, the device had been used as an alarm to wake the poor girl up every day. Some days she was able to ignore it, but on those days Naru was harder to deal with, so some days she did not. However, she was fully prepared to turn back over get some more shuteye when her phone vibrated in her hand. Oh, why did she not just chuck the device when she had the chance? Regrettably, she did not, and now she could not simply ignore it, though she desperately tried.

She looked at her phone to find that Naru was calling her rather than texting. She debated letting it go to voicemail, but before her plan of action could make its way to her fingers, she had hit the talk button and had the phone against her ear. Perhaps it was a good thing she did not ignore the call, because if she had, he most likely would have been in a royally bad mood later.

"Wuizzit, Naru?" she wondered sleepily, her words muffled by her pillow. She did not truly care how she sounded at the moment, not even to him. She was tired and wanted to go back to sleep. The girl was sure it was her sleepy brain that had imagined an amused chuckle emanating from the phone, more specifically from the male on the other side of the connection. His normal tone of voice in the next sentence seemed to reinforce that idea. Oh, sweet insanity, could you have not waited until at least forty five before pestering our poor Mai?

"Mai, tea," Naru stated, then hung up. It took Mai a moment to realize what had just happened before her fury kicked in.

"ARGH! STUPID NARU! MAKE YOUR OWN TEA FOR ONCE, I DARE YOU! WHAT DID YOU DO FOR TEA WHILE YOU WERE GONE, HUH?! AND IT'S NOT EVEN A DECENT HOUR OF THE MORNING!" Mai ranted loudly before an inconspicuous voice shouted at her to be quiet. Mai immediately hushed in her small apartment before realizing what had truly just happened. She was now fully awake. And it was all Naru's fault.

A text came through her phone, and she found herself not wanting to read what it said, sure it would certainly make her even angrier. However, she did, and as soon as the words reached her eyes, she huffed out irately and got ready for the day, being sure to throw every profanity she knew against her boss.

_Mai:  
I win.  
-Naru/The Boss_

* * *

"Naru, Naru, Naru, Naru, Naru, Naaaruuuuuu!" Mai stated loudly in the young man's ear. The van had been packed with equipment and a bit of the luggage, while the rest of their group and their supplies were toting in the car behind them. Lin was driving while Naru was attempting—and failing—to shut out the sound of Mai's voice. He was also in the front so he could navigate. Mai was in the back, and right behind our favorite narcissist, giving her the perfect place to annoy him and exact petty revenge.

"Naaaaaaruuuuuuu," Mai called again, enjoying the reaction she was getting from her boss. Though not readily evident, she could see and even feel the flash of annoyance. And it amused her greatly. So greatly, in fact, that a huge grin spread itself across her face.

"What is it, Mai?" the raven-haired lad finally asked. He was not _caving_, he simply wanted peace and quiet, and was ready to pay the price to get it. The price? A conversation with Mai. Which, in all reality, was not all that horrible a prospect. Who knew, perhaps he could tease her and receive some entertainment. In his brain, it was a win-win situation, Mai either got quiet or he could tease her, hear her get angry, and then she would be quiet.

"I'm bored," the girl stated as a matter of fact. Naru refrained from rolling his eyes and keeping his stoic mask on. She had pestered him for the past ten minutes to tell him what he had already known from a few moments of observation. In the far reaches of his mind, Naru wondered how it was that this girl got under his skin so easily.

"Read a book, it might revive a few of your brain cells," Naru stated, refusing to look at Mai. She was most likely going to pout, and he could not afford to look at that pouting of hers. It would drive him insane. He knew from experience. Again, how could she bother him so easily?

"Naru, that's mean!" she pouted. Yes, she pouted, his deduction was correct. As always. Naru cast a glance in the rear view mirror as she leaned back against her seat and looked out of the window. The van passed by trees whose leaves had already fallen. Some of the leaves, in a whir of reds and yellows, trailed slightly after the vehicle, and then were left peacefully in the road again until the next car. Which was, as I've stated, right behind the van. So the poor leaves really got no rest at all.

Instead of reading to stimulate brain cells—which Mai still thought was mean of Naru to say in the first place—she found herself lost in thought, the movement of the car soothing. Before long, soft, regular breathing could be heard throughout the van. Naru turned around from his place in the front to find a sight that he saw often, but he never quite tired of it, even though he more often than not yelled at her for it.

Mai had fallen asleep.

Naru faced forward again before he could be caught staring at her. It may have been just Lin, but Lin was always a link back to Mori-sensei, and Naru did _not_ want that woman getting any ideas. Naru's thoughts wandered to his sleeping assistant in the back and he wondered about her unconscious affect on him.

The girl was so infuriating yet amusing while she was awake. So full of life, yet such a danger magnet. She'd had brushes with death and was able to provoke him with one well-placed word or gesture. Yet while she was asleep, it seemed as if it was just Mai. A young woman who needed protection from anything that could harm her. A strong desire was already planted in the young man to protect this woman. To protect Mai.

Dare he say, _his_ Mai.

Though he knew that would never happen. She loved Gene, the better yet deceased twin. Sometimes Naru wondered what it would have been like had he and Gene switched places. What would everyone else's lives been like? A lot brighter, with more jokes, most definitely. Mai might have even been happy with the man she loved.

But he could not go back in time and take the car for Gene, though he had thought about it on more than one occasion for several different reasons. Mai was only one. If Gene had been alive rather than him, he would have probably done a better job in keeping the family together, probably would have run the company with more joy despite pain, something Naru knew he was no good at.

Gene being alive would have also meant Mai could have been happy with him. They could have both lived happily. Yet even though, in this little alternate reality, the two people who meant the most to him were happy, the thought itself made his chest hurt and his blood boil. He could not understand it, and how he hated not understanding things.

The car seemed to drop a few degrees.

"Naru," Lin warned softly, yet his voice was firm. Naru, despite not liking the fact that Lin was only there to look after him because his parents had asked him to, was slightly grateful at that moment. It was not like himself to think about things that could never happen, good or no. He was a man of logic and science, and he had better things to do than to wish that he had been the lucky twin instead of his brother. Naru pulled out the map, his eyes narrowed.

"Take a right here."

_**14AmyChan: ah, fluff, how I love thee! *^_^***_

_**Naru: *winces visibly* If you must use the English language, my first hope is that you would not butcher it.**_

_**14AmyChan: *glares daggers at Naru***_

_**Naru: *ignores pointedly***_

_**Mai: *bops Naru on top of head then turns to audience* Please read and review!**_


	4. Case 1: The Briar and The Rose-3

**_14AmyChan: okay, so here's chapter four! *^_^*_**

**_Naru: *comes in with pigtails in his hair and a death glare on his face*_**

**_Mai: *pfft!* Naru, what happened to you?_**

**_Naru: *takes the pigtails out of his hair and throws rubber bands at 14AmyChan, who is laughing*_**

**_14AmyChan: and if I owned Ghost Hunt, there would be a lot more embarrassment going on. XDD_**

**_Mai: ? enjoy the story, I guess... ?_**

_Mai wandered through an expansive landscape, vaguely wondering how it was she had gotten there. Rather than the crisp autumn air that reality presented, her surroundings brought the colorful tidings of spring. Surrounding her was a beautiful expanse of flowers, as far as the eye could see, and each fragrance blending together in a harmonious scent._

_A voice sounded from behind her, and the young girl turned to look. A figure was walking towards her, and happiness seemed to be radiating from both her body and his. She ran to the figure and leapt in the air, giggling like mad when he caught her faithfully. She buried her head in his chest, feeling so safe. He placed his hand on her hair and stroked it lovingly._

_So very safe._

* * *

"..ai. Mai, wake up," a familiar voice pulled the young woman out of her slumber. Her eyes flickered open to see a pair of gorgeous indigo eyes in front of her. Her face erupted in a fiery red as soon as that thought crossed her mind and Naru's face quickly yet calmly retreated out of the door. She wondered how he could be outside of a moving car, completely calm, when a realization hit her.

The car was no longer moving, and she and Naru were the only ones that she noticed in the immediate vicinity. She might have invented a new shade of red with her face.

"N-Naru!" Mai gasped, attempting to slow her heart rate down to a normal pace. In an effort not to look at her boss and give him a chance to completely figure out what she was thinking, Mai quickly looked around before spotting the incredible lodge that stood majestically behind her boss' back. Mai scrambled past her boss and out of the still van with excitement, her awkwardness forgotten.

"**Wow!"** the girl exclaimed, her poor English skills kicking in. She tried to ignore her boss's pointed glare into her back—with something akin to amusement behind it, though she could not see it—as she took the house in.

The picture had shown it a fairly beautiful building, but Mai felt the photo did it little justice. It was a gorgeous three story log cabin with a reddish tint in the wood. With a stone foundation, the place looked like a vacation home rather than something one would live in for all seasons. That would be a dream come true. If only something could be done about the dead rosebushes in the front…

"Jou-chan!" an overbearing hug soon enveloped the girl before she could protest. She would have laughed at this routine had it not been for the lack of air to do so.

"B-Bou-san!" Mai spluttered seconds before a giant _thwack!_ was heard and she could breathe again. She turned around to see a monk with long hair rubbing his head profusely while arguing with a priestess.

"Ouch! What was that for, you old hag?!" Takigawa exclaimed before he was hit with her purse yet again. This time, the force was enough to send him careening towards the ground.

"You don't need to suffocate Mai every time you see her, and I. Am. Not. Old!" a red-haired woman shouted angrily at the poor monk before smiling at Mai and enveloping her into a much gentler hug. For this, Mai was grateful.

"Ayako, hi!" Mai greeted happily when she felt she could intervene on the obvious lover's quarrel. If only they could convince the two of what everyone saw… The woman responded in kind as she pulled away from her hugging.

"Hi, Mai. How've you been?" she asked critically. Mai sighed with a smile, grateful that she had someone like Ayako to worry after her. She considered the woman to be a motherly role-model, and Bou-san to be a fatherly figure.

"It's been good. Naru just reopened the office a few days ago, and this is the first case we've gotten with him being back, so this should be interesting, shouldn't it?" Mai asked with a smile. In truth, every day she had been with the man, he had been worrying her. There were a few things he had been doing differently, certain looks in his eye that she had not really caught beforehand. He seemed less edgy, more caring, if only slightly. And then he would switch back, and become even more reclusive or even snappy than normal. This repeated behavior worried her.

And yet he was still able to call for tea every hour on the dot, almost always sending the girl stewing.

"Mai-san, it's good to see you," a blonde priest smiled, interjecting his greeting. Mai lifted her hand up for a high-five, which he tactfully reciprocated.

"John, it's good to see you, too. How's Masako?" Mai inquired. Ever since Naru had left, she had not gotten to see the dark-haired medium, yet she knew that the priest and the doll-like girl were on much friendlier terms now. If he were not a priest, perhaps it could have been more…

Mai wondered to herself when exactly she had started to subconsciously pair everyone within the SPR walls up with each other. It was as if the entire crew had come straight from an anime or something.

"She's in the middle of a shoot this week, so she won't be able to make it," John relayed to Mai. It seemed he was about to continue when characteristic fighting broke out in the background. John excused himself politely in order to subdue the violence, an attempt that was almost always futile. Mai giggled in familiarity before she heard another voice call out to her.

"Mai-chan, is your mean ol' boss making you run tea like a slave again?" the new voice cooed as its owner drew the girl into a hug. Mai chuckled as she began to squirm her way out.

"Yasu! I thought you had school?" Mai laughed, dodging the question effectively with one of her own. Instead of a serious answer—like she was expecting one—the teenager wagged his finger in disapproval, accompanied by a playful "tsk, tsk, tsk".

"My dear, sweet, Mai, you should know that I have far better things to do than school," the high schooler began dramatically. Mai laughed softly as she rolled her eyes, wondering what ridiculous tale he would spin now. "As a man of my age, I must make sure that the forest creatures are well within their homes. And that is why, as my duty as guardian of the trees, I—"

"Ah, you're here!" Yuuki stated, unknowingly interrupting the many conversations. However, everyone let is pass without complaint. She had just walked out of the front door and therefore had no idea she had been interrupting. She approached Naru with a complete business demeanor, much like the one she had showed in the office. "Thank you for taking this case, Shibuya-san."

"Will you be taking us on a tour of the property, Takanashi-san?" Naru inquired professionally. Yuuki nodded curtly before leading the group of seven into the house. Once inside, they realized the lodging was not merely a luxurious home.

"Wow, it looks like you've got enough rooms to keep an entire class here," Mai exclaimed. It was true. On the inside, there was the downstairs, which held the living room, sitting room, a playroom, and many doors which led to rooms or hallways that the gang could not see; the upstairs, which seemed just as vast as its lower counterpart, with even more rooms; and the final, topmost floor, which no one could see from their place in the foyer.

"From what I've gathered, this place was remodeled a few years ago to house lost travelers, hikers, and even offer a place to stay for campers who would be caught in the rainy season," Yuuki explained as she led the team throughout the house. Occasionally, she would stop and lead the group to specific areas where the cold spots would appear. Some were instantly discounted as of having no scientific accreditation—the fireplace, the window second closest to the door on the right—while others would gain the attention of the SPR team, where they would place their thermal sensors and cameras later. Among these were next to the stove, three quarters of the way up the first set of stairs, and one bedroom in particular that had no windows or vents to speak of.

She also showed the team in which rooms the furniture would be reconfigured. It was mainly in the kitchen and living room, but there were some pictures and paintings in the hallways that would either be relocated or taken down altogether in the middle of the night. The Takanashis, being so out-of-the-way, had no neighbors to suspect and neither of the two were doing these activities. Thus, the team agreed to place cameras in the living room and kitchen and one down one of the hallways with many frames.

"This is the room you requested for your base," Yuuki finally stated as she opened the door to another room of the house. Once opened, the door revealed a room that seemed quite large. There were at least two outlets on every wall, and a writing desk already in place. There were two couches, and to be quite honest, it looked like a counselor's lodge.

"I will want to interview both you and your mother on the incidences. I understand you are the only two on the premises?" Naru acknowledged after a split second. It was then that Mai chose to wonder how they were going to take the equipment to this room on the second story.

"Yes, but she's taking a nap right now. Perhaps later?" Yuuki proposed, to which Naru gave a curt nod. After recognizing that the group had what they needed for the moment, the woman left quietly. Mai watched her go as Naru immediately set to ordering people about.

"Takigawa-san, Yashuhara-kun, Lin, I want you all to bring in the supplies. Matsuzaki-san and Brown-san, I want you to take measurements and temperatures of the rooms," Naru stated, handing a thermal reader and a measuring tape to the pair. He then turned to Mai, who seemed to know exactly what he was going to say next, and chorused with him for the pure sake of amusement.

"Mai, tea."

**_14AmyChan: So yeah, Masako's not there. Also, I'm thinking of making this one HUGE story, with different cases... but the way things are going now... we'll see._**

**_Mai: I read the poems you wrote! Even your own mom said one of them was creepy!_**

**_14AmyChan: I wrote them for Ghost Hunt ideas! They're supposed to be creepy!_**

**_Naru: *pinches bridge of nose* Instead of talking like a lot of imbeciles, why don't you type?_**

**_14AmyChan and Mai: Naru, that's mean!_**

**_Naru: *glares*_**


	5. Case 1: The Briar and The Rose-4

_**14AmyChan: I was so going to wait on uploading this, but I couldn't wait!**_

_**Mai: Why...?**_

_**Naru: *scans chapter with narrowed eyes, then looks at 14AmyChan* You-  
**_

_**14AmyChan: I DON'T OWN GHOST HUNT NOW HAVE FUN SEE YOU SOON BYE!**_

"_Mou, this place is so big," Mai stated somberly as she looked around. When she had first walked in, they layout had seemed relatively simple for a three story house, yet now she had found herself hopelessly lost, nothing around her even resembling anything familiar. She turned a complete one-eighty, wondering why she was not at least bumping into anyone who could show her the way._

_Suddenly, a feeling in her gut told her to turn left. So left she turned. It led her to a hallway that she did not know was there at first. As she walked, she felt a sensation that was not completely unfamiliar to her. She was not alone, yet she had no idea who her companion could be._

_The spirit, however, did not seem unkind, quite the opposite, in fact. It was simply a presence that followed her. Or walked with her, it was quite hard to tell the difference right now. It gently blocked her from going left once more, so she took a right at the end of the hall. In front of her was a door that—for some reason—she desperately wished to open, a feeling of excitement coursing through her veins. An unfamiliar hand reached out to open the door—_

* * *

"…ai. Mai, can you hear me?" a voice caused the girl to open her eyes. Wait, open her eyes? Were they not just open? She turned her head this way and that, wondering how she could have come to be slumped against the wall, dozing off. Dreaming.

A pressure on her shoulder caused her to investigate. There was a pale, familiar hand on her shoulder, and when she traced it back to its owner, she could see Naru in front of her, eyes narrowed in an attempt to find out why his assistant was slumped against the wall in the middle of the hallway. He silently thanked whatever higher being that watched over them for the fact that Mai had decided to wear jeans today instead of a skirt.

"How did I get here?" Mai asked the first question to come to her mind once she could somewhat think straight. Seconds afterwards, she realized she was still under Naru's scrutiny. A split-second after that, she noticed that he was touching her of his own free will, an act that was most rare from him. Not a moment after that happy thought passed through her mind; Naru removed his hand from her shoulder and stood up straight, having been crouched to her level to look her in the eye. He held out a hand to his assistant and withdrew it once he had assisted the girl to her feet.

"You should tell me. No one had seen you while they were doing their jobs, and everyone thought you were in trouble. Naturally, most of the team threw themselves into a panic trying to find you," Naru excluded the part where he had almost lost his cool at the prospect of her being missing so soon into the investigation. Some things were simply better left unsaid, correct?

"Oh, geez, how long have I been gone?!" Mai exclaimed as she looked around. She knew that her excursions from her body could last anywhere from ten minutes to several hours, and the last thing she wanted to do was to worry her coworkers, her family. She also knew the trips took a toll on her body later rather than sooner. Do not ask why, that was simply how it was.

"I told you to get tea three hours ago," Naru answered briskly, his tone laced with more than mere annoyance, as he walked off. Mai was quick to follow and somehow managed to keep up with his long strides.

"Eh?! Really?!" Mai wondered aloud as she tailed her boss. To her, it had seemed as though she had spent less than forty-five searching the house before she had arrived at the…

"Oh, yeah, Naru," Mai unknowingly interrupted her boss and promptly ignored his glare as she went on to talk. "I'm not sure what happened, but it was like one of those dreams. I don't know when or how I fell asleep, though."

"You were astral-projecting without falling unconscious first?" Naru did not bother to mask the hint of surprise that laced his voice. Mai, however, did not notice his new tone. She was busy attempting to figure out how she could have done such a thing on her own and without a guide of any sort. Or did she perhaps have a guide? The unfamiliar, yet gentle spirit who had guided her…?

"I don't know how I did it, but it happened," Mai stated, then went on to explain what had happened in her… well… _vision_. It was not a dream because she had not fallen asleep first. A few moments passed before they finally entered the kitchen, where she immediately began preparing Naru's tea.

"And you didn't go into the room?" Naru asked once he had gathered the details. Mai shook her head, knowing that he would see. She gazed around the room, her eyes searching for something familiar. She already had the kettle and was boiling water, and now she simply needed… Aha, there it was! Right through that open door.

Naru almost did not notice Mai go into the walk-in pantry, so lost was he in his thoughts. He watched with a keen eye as he waited for her to come out of the wooden door again, and when she had failed to come out again within the span of fifteen seconds, he went over to investigate. The sight that met his eyes was most amusing indeed, however, no smile broke through his stoic mask.

"Almost…" Mai's voice strained as she reached to the topmost shelf. Why anyone would keep their tea so far out of reach was beyond her, but there it was, so here she was, reaching for it. She had positioned herself precariously on one of the shelves in order to better afford her a chance of gaining her prize. With an impossible grin of accomplishment, the girl's hand streaked out those impossible few inches and grabbed the tea from its offending position in the highest shelf in the pantry.

"Gotcha!" she cried triumphantly. However, the momentum from her lunge at the tea had caused her precarious position to pose a threat to her. She wobbled dangerously before her foot slipped oh-so-innocently off the shelf and she fell backwards into the open air. A cry of surprise escaped her lips as she held the tea closely and prepared for impact.

The wind was knocked out of her as her back collided with a firm substance. A firm substance that did give a little, making her fall not quite so bad. A firm, warm substance that held her steady as she fell into it. A substance that inhaled sharply and, after a few long and tense moments, spoke.

"You don't even need a ghost to get into trouble, do you?" Naru's voice rumbled in his chest, giving the girl who lay upon it shivers. Her face blasted red and she found it impossible to move. Not to say that she wanted to, but rather that she seemed too shocked to move for a few moments.

Naru looked at the girl he had darted out to catch. He had intended to catch her with his arms, so how she ended up laying against his chest with his arms wrapped protectively around her torso was beyond him. Not to say that he did not like it, but—

_I am _not_ going there…_ Naru's thoughts quickly shut themselves off as he took a deep breath. He felt Mai's shiver as he did so and could not repress the smirk of enjoyment, pleased he could cause such a reaction from this girl in particular. As soon as the notion was there, it was gone again. He needed to remind himself that she did not love _him_, but _Gene_, no matter how much he wished it were him instead…

_Argh! _Not_ going there!_ Naru's thoughts raged, but the damage had been done, the seed planted. To attempt regaining the composure he was probably loosing, he removed his arms from around Mai and began to push himself off the ground. The intent was to hint at Mai to get off of him without actually telling her, given that he did not want to use his voice at the moment. Well, he did not _want_ to get up, but it was necessary for both his job and his sanity.

Whether it be blessed relief or cursed luck, the girl understood his intent and got up faster than the blink of an eye. She turned to face him yet kept her eyes firmly planted on the ground in front of her.

"T-thank you for catching me, Naru," Mai said swiftly. She kept looking at the ground in embarrassment. If she had her way, she would have stayed there for much, much longer. Perhaps even told him again that she still cared for him. However, this was real life, not one of her little fantasies. And in real life, Naru did not care for her that way, a fact that still saddened her heart.

Suddenly, the kettle screamed for attention, dragging the two back to earth and bringing their attention to their current situation. They were a boy and a girl, stuck in a confined space together. There was an exit, however it was blocked, as they now took note.

By almost the entire SPR team, who had been there for only God knows how long.

Mai flushed horribly and practically bulldozed her way to the kettle, where Ayako, John, and Takigawa followed her, berating her with questions on her wellbeing, her disappearance, and her sudden reappearance in a small confined space with Naru. She answered them as best she could, as well as deflecting the well-intended threats by a certain monk to harm Naru had he done anything _untoward_ to his would-be daughter.

"You looked like you were having fun in there, Big Boss," Yasu grinned, having stayed behind to torment the black-clad boy in a way only he could. Said boss shot a dirty look towards his peer, who deflected it with one of his many smiles. Such a glare would have crippled a normal man, but surviving Naru was one of Yasu's many talents.

"What fun could I possibly have being trapped in a confined space with Mai?" Naru asked, his eyes narrowing to slits when the bespectacled lad only shrugged innocently, even though the black-haired boy knew _exactly_ what the joker had been implying. Thoughts of the girl's flushed face or how he had held her in the pantry were waved off. Or, at least, Naru tried to wave them off. He was not having very much success, no matter how much he did not want to admit it.

"I don't know. Tell me when you've figured out why you're blushing, okay?" the happier of the two boys requested before flouncing over to where Mai stood, intent on giving her a hard time as well. Naru pondered a moment as to what Yasu could have meant before attempting to disregard what he had said altogether. After all, he—Naru, Kazuya Shibuya, the great Oliver Davis—did not blush.

That was what he told himself. The faint pink tinge on his cheeks could probably be explained in some other form, correct…?

He defiantly needed to get back to work. After some tea, of course.

_**14AmyChan: okay, those of you who have read thus far, you should know that I write a little slowly, but I try to make up for it with how I write. I hope that you guys are enjoying this!**_

_**Naru: And when she doesn't know because you won't review, she cries.**_

_**Mai: Regrettably, he's right... So, would you guys please read and review?**_

_**Naru: I don't think my shirt can get much wetter from 14AmyChan's tears... *starts to take off shirt***_

_**Mai: O/O**_

_**14AmyChan: please read and review!**_


	6. Case 1: The Briar and The Rose-5

_**14AmyChan: I'm baaack~!**_

_**Naru: Give me back my overshirt!**_

_**14AmyChan: Nope! Besides, you look good in a white dress shirt!**_

_**Mai: I didn't know that you wore that under your shirt...**_

_**Naru: *raises eyebrow at Mai***_

_**14AmyChan: If I owned Ghost Hunt, so many ideas... XDDDD none of them good, so I'm glad I don't. For now. *^_^***_

"Mom?" Yuuki's voice was much different than it had been when dealing with the members of SPR. Instead of cut-and-dry business, her tone held compassion and care, if not a little bit of fear. Not fear of the woman asleep in the bed. No, she was elderly and frail, and that was exactly why the younger woman was afraid. If something were to happen to her mother now, then Yuuki simply would not bear it.

The lump of person shifted around and eventually sat up. A taller woman in her late seventies or early eighties stared at her daughter with perfect posture, despite having just been aroused from a nap. Her face was long and gaunt, and her graying hair perfectly straight, yet this could not make her look stern. For her gentle smile seemed to take an invisible edge off of the air.

"Are they here?" the elderly woman asked, her voice cracking a little from having not been used for so long. Yuuki nodded and her mother made to get ready. The young woman would have offered to help had she not known how stubborn her mother could be. So she simply stood by, ready to assist if necessary. She looked around the room and noted how her mother had not put any of her personal pictures on the walls. Or they had been taken down again by who knew what.

"Did you tell them about what happened a few hours before you left?" the graying lady inquired. The sound of Yuuki's gentle facepalm, a soft _paff_, could be heard throughout the room.

"I completely spaced on that," she admitted as her mother came out of her closet, dressed in a cotton dress and house slippers. Her hair was left down and the kind smile never left her face.

"Well, we'll just have to tell them to be careful what they say around here, won't we?" she asked as she headed to the door. Yuuki led the way to where she had left the paranormal research team and then knocked before entering.

* * *

Lin sat at his keyboard, monitoring everything that went on. He had been the one to report to everyone that Naru had found Mai and that they were in the kitchen. He had also watched, frustrated, as everyone gathered around the pantry. He had also watched—with great amusement, mind you—as Yasuhara had dared to tease Naru about Mai, a feat Lin had barely gotten away with himself while the two had been in England. Despite frustration and amusement, the man's face never shifted in its composure as he continued to monitor the house and finish miscellaneous work.

Generally, the place looked normal. Temperature fluctuations seemed within a typical range of a house in the mountains, furniture seemed completely stable, he did not see anything wrong with the house structure or in general. So, to kill time, he was transferring the temperature readings into an excel sheet as he waited for the others to return.

A gentle knocking was heard on the door before said entrance was opened slightly. Lin did not have to turn to know who it was, but knew it was good customer service to at least address the client with a nod when they were walking into the room.

"I've brought my mother. Are Shibuya-san and the others going to be back soon?" Yuuki asked, to which Lin gave a curt nod. He had seen the team walking back to base after Naru had gotten his cup of tea. It would not take them but a few moments.

It seemed that as soon as the two women had silently situated themselves on the couches, the door burst open with a flair of noise. Almost everyone was talking. The only one silent was Naru, who spotted the two women instantly and sent a death glare to his team, wordlessly demanding that they be professional or pay the consequences. They listened to the shiver going down their backs and were instantly quieted.

"I take it you are ready to answer a few questions?" Naru asked coolly, taking a seat across from the clients. Yuuki gave as curt a nod as Lin had given her. The aforementioned man had already opened a new word file and was ready to transcribe the conversation exactly as it played out on his laptop, while Mai was standing on Naru's other side, listening intently. She had no tea to serve, but she may as well try to see if she could figure out a few things for herself concerning the case.

"This is my mother, Kagura Takanashi, and she is the one who insisted that I bring in…psychic researchers," Yuuki seemed to choose her words carefully. Her and her mother shared a silent glance that did not go unnoticed by the team. After more introductions were made, each member of the team introducing themselves and what they brought to the proverbial table, the discussion was underway. Mai noticed that the two women seemed to be even more on edge when exorcisms were mentioned, though she wondered why.

"Takanashi-san, would you explain exactly what it is that led you to call us?" Naru asked, his body faced towards the elder woman so one would not mistake with whom he was conversing. Kagura sat perfectly erect, though her voice seemed to be strained as she responded.

"I'm sure Yuuki has told you about the furniture moving and the cold spots, but I do believe she forgot one warning," the woman stated seriously. This, Mai mentally noted, and was about to ask about it when the woman continued. She seemed to have been choosing her next words wisely.

"The real trouble with these _guests_ began last week. It was around noon and I was thinking about the blank spell I had gotten that morning—I've been getting those a lot lately. I then walked to my daughter and began to talk with her seriously about the possibility of our house being—"

"Mother…" Yuuki's voice was small, yet the warning could easily be heard. Mai watched this carefully, and mentally noted the fact that Kagura nodded her head in recognition of the tone.

"Yes, I know, dear, but I've got to tell them so they know what it is they're dealing with," Kagura stated softly before addressing the team again. "I began to seriously consider that our house might be haunted, yet when I said it—"

The rest of the woman's words, however, were quickly drowned out. For at that moment, the room began to shake and the equipment began to fall off of the tables. John, Bou-san, Ayako, Yasu, Lin, and Mai all went to make sure nothing broke or that anything heavy could land on anyone. Naru observed everything with a keen eye and sharp instincts. When no more sound emanated from the elder woman's throat, the shaking subsided, and everything was soon normal. Lin quickly caught himself up typing the conversation and what had just occurred while Mai made sure everyone was all right. The only people who had remained unmoving during that episode were Naru and the Takanashis.

"Would you kindly explain what just occurred, Takanashi-san?" Naru asked as if nothing had just happened. Rather than explain, the woman wrote a note and passed it to Naru, whose eyes scanned it; who then passed it to Lin, who typed it; who then passed to Mai so she could keep it for future reference. For the sake of everyone who had not seen the paper—and Naru who still could not read kanji very well—she read it out loud.

"_This is what we have hired you to investigate, Shibuya-san. Every time the paranormal is mentioned in a direct way, these things happen. I am also sorry to say (or, in this case write) that I will not be able to speak for the next day or so. This has happened a total of twice within the past week, and I am afraid that this occurrence will soon escalate to harm either me or my daughter._

_Please help us in ridding ourselves of whatever threat this may pose."_

Mai looked up to Kagura, who had bowed her head at this point. Yuuki as well. Mai's attention turned to Naru, who had a look of concentration on his face. To her, it seemed his mind was already at work, attempting to figure out what kind of entity could have the power to take one's voice, or if these two women were somehow pulling his leg. Mai did not believe the latter was the case, and she would say so to Naru later.

Somehow, as Mai looked upon the two women with their heads bowed, she could not imagine anyone putting themselves through this simply for a few laughs.

**_14AmyChan: *holding white dress shirt* Okay, so that's the introduction of Kagura, Yuuki's mother and last living relation~!_**

**_Kagura: Why are you holding a white dress shirt?_**

**_14AmyChan: AH! Um... He kind of tossed it away, and I didn't want it to get dirty..._**

**_Yuuki: Why didn't Mai catch it?_**

**_14AmyChan: Because she was having a nosebleed. ^^;_**

**_Kagura: um... I hope you all read and review!_**


	7. Case 1: The Briar and The Rose-6

_**14AmyChan: okay, so happy belated Halloween to all of ya'lls~! *^_^***_

_**Takigawa/Bou-san: *has a mask on* BOO!**_

_**Ayako: *hits Bou-san on head with purse* knock it off! Halloween was yesterday!**_

_**Takigawa/Bou-san: ouch! What do you have in there, you old hag?!**_

_**14AmyChan: as they continue to bicker, I feel the need to remind you all that I do not own Ghost Hunt, and to please enjoy this read~! *^_^***_

The rest of the questioning was done through the exchange of notes and words, and when Kagura's hand would tire itself out, signals were used to convey meaning through Yuuki. There were some times where the elder to the two would attempt to talk, only to have no sound come out of her mouth and she would be reminded of her predicament. Mai and Ayako watched her closely during these short periods of time.

The interrogation resulted in Ayako creating a few general warding charms for both the elder and younger Takanashis, and then sending the two out of the room. After the two women left and SPR had all the information they could glean from the inhabitants, Naru began the conversation.

"What do you say about this, Takigawa-san?" Naru stated, rather than asked. It was rare that he would ask for opinions so early on in the investigation, but not so much when taking into account what had just happened.

"Honestly, I don't know what to think at this point. I'm not sure if this is an elaborate prank, a bold spirit, or some unattended shrine we're talking about," Bou-san responded honestly, scratching his head in an attempt to figure things out.

"I think this is outside the realm of a prank," Ayako intervened swiftly, her eyes shifting from one person in the room to another. "Takanishi-san's voice seemed hoarse when she first started talking; it was obvious that she hadn't been speaking in a while."

"If this is no prank, and the supernatural are indeed involved, then we should proceed with caution," John said, to which everyone gave an approving nod.

"Still, why would it react to certain conversations?" Yasu asked, being extremely vague with his wording, yet everyone in the room knew exactly what he meant.

"If it knew we were here to exorcize it, then perhaps it is trying to defend itself?" Bou-san threw the idea around. Mai looked at him questioningly.

"What do you mean, Bou-san?" the high schooler inquired. While a majority of the team sighed in frustration, the elder monk calmly explained his inference.

"During an exorcism, a chant, prayer, or recital is crucial to its success. Almost like the catalyst of a monk's, priest's, or other exorcist's power. It is possible to do without your voice, but it makes the task all that much harder," Bou-san's explanation seemed like it was about to delve into technical terms, so Mai backtracked mentally and summarized what he had said.

"So, basically, if your voice is gone, then your exorcism won't be as effective?" Mai concluded. Bou-san gave a nod of approval.

"In most cases, yes. There are a few rare exceptions, but not having your voice when dealing with something like this generally does have that effect," the monk wrapped up. The entire team got quiet.

"Why would a—" Mai halted in her rambling in order to think about what she was saying. Man, it would be difficult not to talk about ghosts when dealing with them or speculating about them. "Why would it want to defend itself like that? There's got to be some reason it's here other than hurting Yuuki and Takanashi-san, especially if they've lived here for the entire season only to have trouble now…"

Moments of silence passed after Mai's thought. The constant noise of Lin's keyboard seemed the only interruption of the group's thought.

"Yasuhara, I want the history of this building and the surrounding area. Disappearances, anything out of the ordinary. Have Takigawa-san drive you to the nearest library," Naru stated. The volunteered man groaned loudly.

"The nearest library is a two-hour drive, Naru-bou!" the elder man complained. Naru appeared to not have heard him as he ordered Ayako and John to scout outside and see what they could learn about the lay of the land. If they were to come across any remains or shrines, they were to report it to Lin immediately.

"Oi, Naru-chan, are you listening," Bou-san finally said. The entire room grew quiet at the suffix of "chan" being placed on the end of Naru's name. Even the bold narcissistic one stopped. Mai rubbed her arms in an effort to try and keep warm against the rapidly decreasing temperature.

"The sooner you leave for the library, the better chance you have of driving back on the mountain road in the sunlight," Naru's voice was cold, and when he shot a particularly devastating glare in the poor monk's direction, the elder man simply grabbed his keys and dragged Yasuhara out of the room, who was laughing the entire way.

After a few moments of inactivity, Ayako and John deemed it safe to move and quickly made their way to the door. The miko stopped by Mai on the way out and gave her a wink. Flustered, Mai could only glare as the two went away.

"So what do you want me to do, Naru?" Mai asked as soon as the room was emptied of all occupants aside from herself, Naru, and the ever-typing Lin. The black-haired youth rolled his eyes sarcastically.

"I thought it would have been obvious," Naru's choice of words instantly enraged the high school brunette, who huffed to let him know exactly how she felt.

"Well, not all of us got a degree at fifteen, you self-absorbed jerk," she muttered just loudly enough for her boss to hear.

"Lin, watch the base until we get back. If Matsuzaki-san and Brown-san find something, radio me," Naru ordered as he left the base. Mai stood there, confused for two moments, before deciding to follow him. He was waiting outside the door, arms crossed.

"So, where are we going?" Mai asked, intent to follow him. If that had not been his intention in the first place, he would have already been long gone, and she knew that. The man turned on his heel and began to walk, the girl quick to follow.

"We're going to the kitchen," Naru's statement was cut in half by an annoyed groan from his companion. He smirked. How he loved to tease her.

"You could have just told me to get you some tea," Mai muttered, confused as to why he had not done so like every other time he desired the substance. Instead, he had gone with her. There must have been something else he wanted.

"And then you are going to try to find the door from your dream," Naru continued as if he had not been interrupted in the first place. Mai stopped and looked at the boy as if he had lost his marbles.

"Are you saying that we're going to just barge into an unknown room that we don't even know exists because I saw it in my dream?" Mai wondered aloud, internally pondering why Naru seemed to be giving her dream this much attention. Usually, it was a warning of some kind, and he would tell her to stay away from danger. Now...

"You saw it in astral-projection without going unconscious first, Gene must have thought it was important to do that," Naru stated bluntly, all traces of emotion—however slight—gone from his voice. Mai blinked in surprise.

"Naru... Gene didn't pull me there," Mai stated clearly. Naru turned and gave her an odd look. She was able to decipher surprise behind his cool stare.

"I haven't seen him since right before you and Lin left for England."

_**14AmyChan: dun dun DUUUN! Lol, I know, not a good cliffie, but still. *^_^***_

_**Naru: *begins to brood***_

_**Mai: *trying to look anywhere but Naru***_

_**14AmyChan: oh, by the way, did you want me to give Naru his shirt back?**_

_**Mai: uh... *blushes furiously***_

_**Naru: *not paying attention***_

_**14AmyChan: I'll take that as a no. please read and review, guys~! *^_^***_


	8. Case 1: The Briar and The Rose-7

_**14AmyChan: okay, I know it's not Friday or Tuesday, but I thought I might as well post this now. *^_^***_

_**Mai: You're just saying that cause you finally made up your mind...**_

_**14AmyChan: okay, yeah. In this story, this won't be the only case! So it'll make it a little easier for me to run with multiple storylines. You'll see later on. *^_^***_

_**Naru: I want my shirt back.**_

_**14AmyChan: aw, but why? XDD**_

_**Naru: *has shirt fly to him, then puts it on***_

_**Mai: Naru, you're gonna-!**_

_**14AmyChan: I don't own Ghost Hunt, enjoy~! *^_^* btw, bold means they're talking in English, while normal means just plain ol' Japanese. *^_^***_

Mai walked around the house, very conscious of the fact that her boss was brooding behind her. She turned right, not completely sure of where she was in the house, but knowing they were somewhere on the property. If anything else, they should be able to call for help on Naru's radio.

Then again, she was not entirely sure she would want to talk to him about the fact that she may have very well gotten them lost. Ever since their little conversation almost an hour ago, he had stopped talking and was searching ever facet of his mind for—well, something. And Mai was not about to interrupt him now.

* * *

"_You haven't seen him?" Naru asked, his eyes slanted. Mai gulped nervously, perhaps it was not a good idea to let him know so soon that she was without a spirit guide? However, the damage was done and all she could do was shake her head no. She remained silent, wondering what was going through that head of his._

_Evidently, anything and everything hit the boy's mental status at once, seeing as the boy began to strike a thinking pose. When he remained unmoving for more than half three minutes, Mai began to fidget nervously. Naru had obviously trusted Gene's knowledge rather than her instinct and—while that hurt in its own right—she knew that he would want to return to base even more quickly now and probably not bother with the mystery door._

_So, without much thought, she began to walk. She was a little surprised to find Naru subconsciously following her, still wrapped in his own thoughts. She only hoped she would have enough sense of direction to get them back to the base._

* * *

It was now obvious that she did not have enough sense of direction to get them back to the base. Mai turned another corner, hoping to find their destination, or hear the steady clicking of keys to a keyboard, only to have her hopes fall short.

She was standing in the middle of a hallway, confused as to where she was. She turned a complete one-eighty, determined to find out exactly where she and Naru were. A flash of dejá vu and a strange calmness washed over her. She turned left as if she had walked this path several times before.

As Mai began to walk with purpose, Naru was still lost in thought and—as I get to tell you—conversation. His session of intense analytical thinking had brought him only a few answers to his many questions, and he was not happy with having questions of any sort.

First, if what Mai had said was true, that she had not seen Gene, then she should not have been able to Astral-Project, sleeping or otherwise, with her level of psychic power. Unless she had another spirit guide. However, if that were the case, she would have said something before this. Which led him to another point.

Mai had been in the astral plane with no spirit guide. No way to filter the information she was to receive. Some of it could be relevant to the case, and some of it could not. He would have to revert to classifying Mai's dreams and visions to "gut feeling", something he did not want to do, even if those feelings had an extraordinary accuracy rate. However, he knew fully well that if she were to visit the Astral-Plane unprotected, without a guide of any kind, then any ghost, spirit, or entity could get at her. Anything could try to win her trust—which was easily achieved, he should know—and try to do as they pleased.

These thoughts had turned Naru's mood sour, and he had mentally called out for his brother, unsure if his twin had moved on or not. If he had moved on, why had he left Mai unprotected? Gene loved her, did he not?

"**Almost, I'm like her older brother,"** Gene's voice cut through Naru's thoughts, and the boy fought to keep his stoic façade. If she were looking, Mai would definitely have been able to see the flash of surprise go through Naru's eyes before they narrowed substantially.

"**Cut the crap, Gene. What's going on with Mai?"** Naru's telepathic link was strong, yet his brother's was fading. Naru was not, after all, a medium of any sort, so the dead twin could not hold such a flimsy connection for long without some sort of physical connector—such as a mirror—no matter how much he wished he could.

"**You should realize that, genius,"** Gene chided playfully as he, unbeknownst to the living, floated peacefully above their heads. He had missed talking with and teasing his over-analytical brother. Gene cast a worried look towards Mai, who was still walking, not having noticed his presence. **"I was going to move on, but I had to keep an eye on the both of you. I've tried to contact Mai, but she's been blocking me herself."**

"**What do you mean 'blocking me herself'? Her powers are animal instincts at best,"** Naru could feel his connection with his brother slipping, and fought to keep listening. He would not admit it to anyone, _especially_ Gene, but he had missed talking with him and hearing his random rants about anything and everything, even if it _had_ been annoying. However, the link was already beginning to feel like static to him.

"**They **_**were**_**…at best. Noll, you…her…evolving," **Gene's voice cut through the static, only barely. Before Naru could send another word, he heard Gene's last warning. **"Watch out…idiot scientist…don't know how…cares for you."**

With that, the link severed, and Naru was more confused than ever. Blocking Gene herself? How could Mai do that? Why would Mai do that? Did she not know that if she had no trustworthy guide, she could easily become lost to the world of the living?

That thought alone put Naru in an even more sour mood as he felt an icy chill run through his blood.

So much so that he had actually bumped into Mai, who had stopped unexpectedly. Naru pulled himself from his thoughts to see Mai staring at a blank expanse of wall, her eyes clouded. She reached out a hand and pushed against the wall, and Naru was surprised when it moved to her touch. It was as if a door had opened inward, and the scientific male was watching the proceeding events closely.

"Mai," his warning tone seemed to go unheeded as she walked into the room. He quickly followed, not liking the hypothesis that his mind was conjuring. As soon as he was inside, he realized they were in one of the rooms that had gained attention for supernatural phenomena. It had no windows or any vents to speak of. He now knew, however, that it had a secret door, which could eventually debunk some of the supernatural theories.

Suddenly, Mai's knees seemed to buckle and give away beneath her. Naru, without any inclination as to why, darted to her side and kept her from collapsing to the floor. The entire room got about four degrees chillier. The boy looked around the room, searching for the source of this strange phenomenon. At that moment, he was glad there was a camera and thermometer in the room.

"Mmnnn," Mai's pained groan seemed to be the only sound in the room, and Naru immediately turned his attention to her, cameras and sensors forgotten. Her eyes flickered open, and she seemed to be sleepily studying him for a moment. Naru noted that her eyes were her usual clear cinnamon color, only hazed with sleep. She was no longer possessed. He felt relief at that, yet anger at himself for not noticing she had become possessed when she started to actually make sense with her direction.

"Naru, what happened?" Mai asked, still trying to make sense of the situation. The last thing she remembered was turning a one-eighty in a hallway, and now she was in a strange bedroom with Naru. Her face would have flushed crimson if she had the energy. For some reason or another, her body felt so tired, like she had run a marathon. Minus the sweat, of course.

"You were possessed, and—" Naru's explanation was cut short by a drastic drop in temperature. Mai attempted to get out of Naru's steady arms and stand only to collapse once more. Once again, Naru caught her, and this time, he held her protectively close to him as a few items began to shake. Mai worried as to what could happen next.

Then, something flew through the air and hit Naru square in the face.

_**Naru: If I had the energy to do something productive, you would be sorry**_

_**14AmyChan: Why? Cause something it your face? XD**_

_**Mai: what was it?**_

_**14AmyChan: that's a secret until the next chapter!**_

_**Mai: Awww.. D:**_

_**14AmyChan: hey, if it weren't for me, Naru wouldn't be lying on your lap from the exhaustion caused by the PK he used at the beginning of the chapter!**_

_**Naru: you were the one who held onto my shirt tightly so I had to use more**_

_**14AmyChan: ingenious how that works, innit?**_

_**Naru: Why you—**_

_**14AmyChan: please read and review~! *^_^***_


	9. Case 1: The Briar and The Rose-8

_**14AmyChan: I MADE IT!**_

_**Naru: *glaring at me* you left us here, and you were extremely close to being late for your update.**_

_**Mai: Naru, don't be so hard on her!**_

_**14AmyChan: yeah, Naru! I lost my flash drive with the chapter on it, and I had to get it back, and-**_

_**Naru: Excuses. Chan-san does not own Ghost Hunt.**_

_**Mai: Wait, Naru, didn't you call her Amy-san earlier...?**_

A small object slid down Naru's face and fell to the side of the two teenagers. The rattling and shaking soon subsided and the temperature balanced out, leaving the duo simply standing in the middle of the room, embracing.

Naru glared coolly at the room, wondering several things about the attack. However, his observations could be easily confirmed or denied with the use of the cameras and sensors previously placed in the room. And once he could confirm those observations, he could make reliable hypotheses. For now, it was too soon to tell.

A brief spurt of laughter caught Naru's attention, and he looked at the girl he had cradled in his arms. During the attack, her head had been buried into his chest. He suspected that her body was beginning to wear itself out—having done a conscious astral projection without outside help and a separate possession in less than six hours—and he had no idea when she would suddenly pass out, or even if the after-affects could be worse than that. Sudden movement for her was not a good idea at this point.

So, naturally, when she moved to bend over he would have none of it. He simply tightened his grip on her and glared. Mai's gaze soon met Naru's—albeit with some difficulty moving her heavy head—and kept it evenly through lidded eyes. Naru tried not to think about how unfair God was being to him at the moment, and instead concentrated on her well-being, which was more pressing at the moment anyways.

"I just… want to see…" Mai said softly before she slumped entirely on Naru, unconscious. Rather than wait for help—which was sure to be coming because the camera was there and Lin had probably brought Ayako and John inside the house the instant the attack started—Naru scooped Mai into his arms and carried her. Before he left the room, he stole a glance at whatever it was that had hit his gorgeous face.

As he left, he pondered what on earth a small teddy bear would be doing in that room to begin with. And why on earth it had hit him in the face.

* * *

"What's wrong with Mai?" Ayako cried out as soon as Naru brought her into the room. Almost completely ignoring the miko, the boy strode to the other side of the room and gently deposited the girl in his arms onto the couch.

"She needs food, water, and rest," Naru's voice cut clearly through the chaos that was slowly building. Ayako and John seemed to be at ease a little bit, while Lin—adversely—stiffened ever so slightly. He cast a curious look at his charge, wondering if—

"Matsuzaki-san, in your medical opinion, would you say Takanashi-san is currently unable to speak?" Naru inquired. Ayako stopped fretting over Mai for a few moments and thought about it, recalling every detail she could about the conversation, despite the fact that she had been engaged in an elbowing war with Takigawa almost the entire time.

However, the woman had tried to speak on a few occasions before reverting back to the pencil and pad. She had looked as if she were talking. The right amount of air was being exhaled, and her throat moved with the words she would have spoken. The only difference was there was no sound. At all. Not even the sound of a breath, which, by medical standards, should have happened at least once during the time the woman had exerted herself.

"She, very literally, cannot make a sound," Ayako stated in all seriousness. "I didn't even hear her breathe, and it was obvious she was doing so. Every time she tried to talk, her body was cooperating, but not the sound. It's as if someone just turned it off."

"I see…" Naru stated. He walked over to Lin who, upon already knowing what the young man was going to require, was already rewinding the tape in order to view the last attack. He played the video just moments before it had happened.

"_Naru, what happened?"_ a familiar voice came through the audio system. Ayako and John's heads swiveled at the sound of Mai, and Naru found himself narrowing his eyes in concentration. Never before had it felt even remotely weird to have the others watch the tapes with him, so why was it that now he felt awkward? Perhaps it had something to do with how close he and Mai were in the video? Perhaps… That was a theory…

"_You were …"_ the sound immediately cut, yet the tape still played. Naru watched the scene unfold as there was visible shaking visible from the camera. Mai attempted to walk only to collapse back into Naru's arms. The young boss wondered what it was that she was walking to, seeing as her eyes were intently fixed upon one point in the room.

The teddy bear—which had been previously sitting on the floor next to the bed—had flung itself upwards and across the room onto Naru's face. Once the bear had slid off his face and onto the floor, it left an extremely unamused expression in its wake.

"Lin, pause," Naru's order was obeyed the instant he uttered it. However, this was not the frame he had wanted to see. "Back two."

Lin expertly backed the video up two seconds to the frame, to where Mai had begun to walk. Naru followed her line of sight, and found himself unsurprised when he spotted a mist. Barely visible, yet Mai was not only looking directly at it, but she had almost walked into its proverbial arms. The action was confusing.

Why would Mai, whose instincts had more often than not led her away from danger, be walking towards this mist? It was the only thing in the room besides the living, so logically; it was the one to attack them. However, the "attack of the stuffed bears" had come after Mai had collapsed and Naru had caught her, and its nature had a different feel than the attack on the base. Perhaps…

_Is this ghost after Mai…?_ Naru wondered as he changed a glance at his sleeping assistant. It would not be the first time this kind of thing had occurred, but still. Something seemed just a little _off_. The two attacks were similar in nature, but something did not sit right about the two. He could not pinpoint it, as it was only a feeling, yet…

_Brilliant… I'm beginning to sound like Mai…_ Naru thought as he walked away from the monitors and over to a chair by the unconscious Mai. He sat down and pulled out the file, hoping to glean more information from the details of the case he had while waiting for more information from the monk and Yasuhara.

* * *

"Honey…?" a woman walked around, her daily routine broken. For the first time, she truly noticed that her furniture was different, and there were some things in the house that were new. More notably, a new plethora of rooms on the second story, and even a new set of stairs! The changes with the house she could live with. Or without, it did not really matter to her.

Her husband, on the other hand, mattered. She needed him there. Especially now.

"Honey…?" she called again, her voice wavering, wondering where he had gone. She stopped where she stood and then hugged herself around her midsection, feeling the cold loneliness sink in.

"I'm scared."

**_14AmyChan: okay, I hope you all enjoyed that! *^_^*_**

**_Naru: Next time, I strongly suggest you be punctual with your updates._**

**_Mai: Naru!_**

**_Naru: *places finger on Mai's lips before continuing* otherwise your readers will not review._**

**_14AmyChan: *pales*_**

**_Mai: *is red by now, and Naru has noticed!*_**

**_Naru: Mai, isn't there something you would like to say...? *removes finger from lips, leaving Mai in shock for a moment*  
_**

**_Mai: uh.. uh..._**

**_Naru: What my assistant means is that she would appreciate your reviews. *leaves*_**

**_Mai: ... NARU!_**


	10. Case 1: The Briar and The Rose-9

_**14AmyChan: okay, new chapter is up and going~! *^_^***_

_**Mai: Amy-san apologizes in advance for the lack of things happening in here**_

_**14AmyChan: yeah, sorry! ^^;**_

_**Naru: Chan-san does not own Ghost Hunt. *flees to the bat cave***_

_**Mai: did you just...?**_

_**14AmyChan: yes I did. *^_^***_

Ayako awoke uncommonly early the next morning, oddly enough refreshed and ready to take on whatever this spirit—obviously an earth spirit—had in store for them. She looked over to her side to see Mai, still fast asleep. The girl had not woken up since yesterday, and seemed to have slept all through the night. She would need to be fed soon, so the miko went to wake her.

"Mai, wake up," Ayako's voice elicited only one reaction. Mai murmured sleepily, turned over in her bed, and slept on. The motherly figure sighed. She did not want to have to go through something ridiculous to wake her up, but the girl had forced her hand.

"What was that, Masako? I'm sure Naru would love some of your tea," Ayako's well-rehearsed words were cut off by Mai, who instantly shot up in bed, panic evident in her eyes.

"Masako, you wouldn't dare. I thought—" Mai's complaint hung in the air as she stopped for a moment, processing what had just happened. She scowled playfully at the older woman, unable to keep a smile from her face. The miko simply smiled in a not-so-innocent fashion.

"Ayako, that was low," Mai laughed at the ridiculousness of it all. Masako had pretty much given up on Naru when she had learned about Gene, so why would it have mattered? Besides, it really was just tea.

Deep in her heart, she knew that was not true.

"All's fair in love and war," Ayako bragged with a smug smile. Too bad she did not see a pillow come flying at her face. Mai's laughter resounded throughout the entire room, caught up in her childish act of revenge.

"Yup, looks that way," Mai smirked with joy, happy with her slight victory over having been woken up. She did not, however, realize that in throwing the pillow, she had given Ayako ammunition.

"You asked for it!" Ayako laughed when she whacked Mai on the back of the head lightly with the pillow. Mai flung herself off of her sleeping arrangements and onto Ayako's bed, stealing the other woman's pillow to use as a shield.

"You're gonna get it!" Mai pledged as she turned the defensive into the offensive, battering Ayako with her pillow every time she had the chance, and defending the rest of the time. It was a fight for the upper hand. First it was Ayako, then Mai, then Ayako, and she kept the upper hand for a while, then Mai, who eventually landed a good blow to Ayako's lower leg, causing the older woman to fall backwards onto the soft mattress. Mai jumped for joy and Ayako let out a distraught groan, complaining about how her hair now needed extra care and attention. Mai knew it was all for show though, the red haired woman had fun.

"I win!" she shouted happily before a sound interrupted her victory dance. It was the growling of her own stomach. Her face flushed with embarrassment as Ayako finished brushing her hair then shot Mai a knowing look.

"All right, you, time for breakfast," the older woman announced, feeling hungry herself. Nodding in agreement, the two quickly got ready for the day and then proceeded into the kitchen, where Yuuki was already busying herself with the preparations for the meal.

"Hi, Yuuki," Mai said happily. The thirty year old woman seemed startled for a moment, but then smiled when she recognized Mai and Ayako.

"Hello, Mai. Good morning Matzusaki-san," Yuuki addressed sleepily as she kept an eye on the breakfast. There seemed to be a good amount of food being made. "I thought you and your team might be hungry, so I thought I might cook up a little breakfast. I hope no one in your team is allergic to eggs."

"Good morning, Takanashi-san," Ayako returned with a smile. She glanced over the food Yuuki was making with an affirming nod. "The team doesn't have any allergies that I'm aware of, so you're good."

"Would you like any help?" Mai offered. Yuuki seemed to be taken by surprise at the sudden offer, but agreed to let the two women help. By the time that John had woken up, the aromas of freshly grilled fish, rice with fried eggs, and miso soup wafted into his nose.

"Good morning," he greeted kindly when he found the girls in the kitchen, talking and laughing as they made the breakfast. Mai turned around first, a smile—as well as a bit of the food—on her face. John could only assume she had been taste testing as she worked.

"Good morning, John! Would you mind helping Ayako with the table? I'm gonna stay with Yuuki and guard the food," Mai beamed, to which Ayako clicked her tongue and shook her head, a playful frown on her face.

"Mai, if we leave you with the food, it'll be gone before the guys even get down here," Ayako declared as she pointed out a bit of rice on the young girl's face. Mai brushed it away with a blush, hoping that the red haired woman would let it go. Sadly, she did not.

"Why don't you go and get Naru and Lin for breakfast? Those two were probably up all night, seeing as they didn't wake up John or myself…" Ayako suggested. She looked over at Yuuki, who was still stirring the soup. "Takanashi-san, would you like Mai to let your mother know that breakfast is ready as well?"

"My mother is a little tired right now. I think it would be best to let her rest for now," Yuuki said, a flash of worry infiltrating her tone. Mai immediately suspected something amiss. But surely the elder of the two would not have been possessed had she kept Ayako's warding charm, would she?

"Was her hand in the rosebushes again?" Mai asked, to which Yuuki gave a short and curt affirmative. Were Mai not used to dealing with Naru, who was also emotionally stunted, she would have wondered weather this woman cared for her mother. But the young girl could see the tightening in their client's eyes, and how her movements suddenly became stiff and a little jagged. Yuuki was definitely worried, and Mai wanted to comfort her.

"Naru will figure it out," Mai offered as reassurance, patting the elder woman's back before walking out of the room in her quest to recruit said man and his equally silent assistant for breakfast. Yuuki turned to Ayako after the girl had left, curiosity getting the better of her.

"She trusts him a lot, doesn't she?" she inquired. She had not known the team for very long, but she knew that every one of them looked up to the one they called Naru. Especially Mai. Ayako seemed to understand that Yuuki picked up on this and gave a brief nod.

"With her life."

* * *

Mai walked out of the kitchen and through the dining room, greeting John along the way. The priest offered to walk with the young girl on her way to the base, but she assured him she could most definitely make it to her destination this time, both conveniently forgetting that she had a rather nasty knack of getting lost in the house in the short amount of time they had been there. So she proceeded on her own. She turned right, left, right, right, straight… Oh dear.

Somehow, she had ended up at the open front door rather than the base. A screen was in place so as to keep the bugs out, yet allow cool morning air inside. Mai turned to face the inside of the house, mentally mapping exactly where she needed to go. It was really quite simple for a house this large, but for some reason, she always ended up in strange places. A hallway, a random bedroom, and now the front door! She had not even been here that long, not even a full twenty four hours!

A rustling of leaves came from behind her, and caught the girl's attention. Rather than a subtle whisper courtesy of the wind, the leaves were crunching. As if weight were being deliberately pressed upon them and then removed just as quickly. Like footsteps.

"Hello…?" Mai called out, feeling a little more at peace when she did so, almost certain that the being would have attacked her by now if that was its intent, whatever it was. She opened the front screen and looked around. She was about to head inside when she heard it again, a little farther away. She hesitantly went towards the sound, sure to shut the screen door behind her.

"Is anyone here…?" she asked, beginning to feel her nerves jumble up inside of her. Perhaps it wasn't such a good idea to follow noises right outside a haunted house that seemed to lead into the woods. Besides that, she had to let Naru and Lin know that breakfast was ready.

More crunching of leaves. Mai could not help it; her curious nature was taking over. With one foot in front of the other, she slowly made her way into the forest, following the sound of the mysterious footfalls.

**_14AmyChan: okay, so there's that chapter~! I really wanted to write a pillow fight. XD_**

**_Ayako: do you know what pillow fights do to a girl's hair!_**

**_14AmyChan: calm down, I had you fix it. *^_^*_**

**_Mai: Where am I going? And where's Naru? And why-?  
_**

**_14AmyChan: I'll try and answer those in the next chap, okay? *^_^*_**

**_Mai: mou! please read and review to keep us all somewhat sane!_**


	11. Case 1: The Briar and The Rose-10

**_14AmyChan: okay, I'm a day early, but I really wanted to post this chapter. *^_^*_**

**_Yasu: I'M IN THIS CHAPTER!_**

**_Takigawa: You're only on the phone..._**

**_Yasu: My prince, how could you?!_**

**_Takigawa: Shounen, knock it off! Old hag, help!_**

**_14AmyChan: lol, I don't own Ghost Hunt, enjoy~! *^_^*_**

Naru sat back from the monitors and rubbed his tired eyes. There had not been much disturbance other than when Takanashi-san had gone out early in the morning. She seemed to have misplaced the warding charm Matsuzaki had given her and Naru had decided to keep a close eye on the elderly woman with her wandering so early in the morning. He had Lin stay behind to watch over the base, ready to alert the others if necessary whilst he kept an eye on his charge.

Naru had followed the elder Takanashi around the house, in such a way that she would have most surely noticed him had she been paying attention. She had wandered around the house, though purposefully. She seemed to be washing dishes, vacuuming floors, and general housework without the tools. She weaved in and out of several rooms, mock cleaning, while seemingly ignoring others. After about an hour of this, she made her way to the front door and slipped outside with a gentle smile, her eyes not quite right.

Almost positive the woman was possessed and not merely suffering from old age, Naru had followed Kagura Takanashi to the front yard. He had not wanted to leave her unsupervised, though he knew he could do little on his own without the possibility of injuring either the elder woman or himself. Thus, he stood guard over the woman, taking it upon himself to make sure she did not get herself into much trouble without interfering with possible observation of supernatural phenomena.

He was about to step in when the elder woman's hand reached for the dead rosebushes, yet he stopped short.

Kagura Takanashi had not immediately thrust her hand into the bushes, as the entire SPR team had been led to believe. She had stared at the withered rose bushes intently, seemingly looking for something. Naru waited two minutes before the woman had carefully maneuvered her hand inside the thorned plant, as if she knew the dangers and did not care for getting hurt.

_I wonder, could she have possibly been left alone every time this has supposedly happened…?_ Naru had questioned silently as he watched the elder woman's actions.

Soon, her entire arm had been inside the bush, and Naru had been certain she had found something within. Before he could have asked what she had found, Takanashi-san's eyes had widened in surprise and fright and she had jerked her hand back, gaining several new scratches and gashes from the thorns along the way before Naru could have intervened to calm her down. The blood drawn had caused the woman to offer a slight yelp, and it was then that the younger of the Takanashi women had come outside.

The younger Takanashi had apologized for her mother and had indeed confirmed that she often came outside after the elder was already bleeding. After confirming that the elder Takanashi knew nothing of what had just occurred, assuring her that Matsuzaki-san would look at the injured arm later, and reminding her to please keep the warding charm she had been provided with on her person at all times, Naru had given them leave to go back to their respective rooms and gain whatever rest they could. It was, after all, their house.

That event had ended at five fifteen in the morning. It was now eight-thirty. Nothing warranting suspicion had happened since then. The cameras had picked up nothing; the thermal readings had been stable except for one slight change in temperature three quarters of the way up the stairs. The fluctuation had happened while Naru had been forced to sleep by Lin, so Chinese man had written a small note about it.

Small temp fluctuation, stairway, 12:04 am.

Suddenly, Naru's cellular phone vibrated from within his pants pocket. Knowing very well who the caller was even before he checked the ID, the boss hit the speaker button, not wanting to hold the phone up to his ear while he spoke as well as allowing Lin to transfer any useful information to a freshly opened Word document.

"What have you found?" Naru's voice demanded of the two poor souls on the other end of the line. By the time that Takigawa and Yasuhara had found a library that had any information on the house they were investigating, it had been too late for them to traverse the mountain path safely. Thus, the two males had been researching the entire night. Mainly Yasuhara was researching; Takigawa needed his rest so he could drive up the mountain-side unhindered by fatigue.

"I didn't find a lot about the house itself, just the fact that it was commissioned by a foreign couple thirty-six years ago, and then it was refashioned into a safe house for lost campers and hikers," Yasu admitted. Even Naru could hear the tiredness in his voice, yet made no comment. "The lives of the couple that commissioned the house pretty much dominated the gossip section of the newspaper for three years running, though. Looks like they didn't interact with the town very much, so they became afraid of them and had a lot of wild rumors going around. Theories ranged from witchcraft to domestic abuse and everything in between. Most of it's just wild nonsense, one woman even said that the wife tried to poison her with a ninroot. That's just poppycock because ninroots are supposed to heal people. Didn't anyone read Harry Potter back then?"

"What do we know of the foreign couple?" Naru asked, knowing where the conversation would quickly be headed if he did not intervene. And, quite frankly, he simply wanted the information, not a long dramatic speech about "young people who did not know a good series when they saw one".

However, something about the case made him slightly uneasy. He knew he sounded like Mai when he felt something wrong. Not extremely wrong, simply out of place. He quickly pushed the thought away and concentrated on the information he was receiving, instead of his gut.

"Hotori and Lila Yuumei were reported missing thirty three years ago. They were never found, especially not by a town that really thought they were a couple of ghouls or something. After that, a fire burned a portion of the original property, and it was rebuilt by the same town as a forest ranger station for lost hikers and such. That's why it has so many rooms even though it was originally a house for two people. Since then, that place gradually dropped off the map. It's always been on the market, but no one was interested until the Takanashi's."

"Any idea why no one would buy the property?" Naru asked, trying to get any and every piece of information he could from the researcher. He could practically feel the negative response before it was given.

"Not yet, haven't gotten that far. Would you kill me if I borrowed my Bou-san just a little while longer?" Yasuhara joked. Naru stopped and thought about it for a moment. The monk was generally the one to exorcize places; however, they were now in a situation where people were being possessed, and if they were foreigners there was a strong probability that they would fear the Word of God, if the need ever arose. Brown-san was more suited towards this job and would suffice for now.

"Gather as much information as you can. Also, look into possible accidents or lost hikers that could be in relation to the area. We want to be thorough," Naru ordered, indirectly answering the young man's question. With a final, chipper "Yes, boss!" from the grey-haired youth on the other side of the phone, Naru hung up and then returned to his monitor.

Something was not right with this entire case. Any run of the mill house in the middle of the forest was bound to come with more than just one possibility for a haunt, with said haunts being more grotesque or gruesome than what was happening before their very eyes. So why had Yasuhara not been able to come up with more than one case of missing persons?

Also, yesterday, Naru had not lost his voice after the attack, unlike Takanashi-san, who had legitimately lost hers. Yet another factor to his thinking, the attack on the base had been more violent than the one in the mysterious room. Equipment being rattled off the shelves and nearly injuring his team versus a stuffed teddy bear. That room had also yet to be inspected closely, and Naru mentally told himself that he would send either Matsuzaki-san or Brown-san to check that room out before the day was out.

Mai was not leaving his side until he could figure out what exactly was going on with her and her seemingly improving powers, and he would tell her so once she entered the base.

Some movement on monitor five caught Naru's attention and his hawk-like eyes and keen mind quickly identified it as Mai, taking shaky steps out of the house. He observed her for a moment as she had stopped and looked around. He could see her mouth something and saw her earth-brown eyes clear as day, definitely not possessed, yet curious. The team, however, had not placed microphones on the camera by the door. Naru mentally noted to not make this strategically mistake again. After saying something else, she did one of the most idiotic things she had done on the entire case.

She went into the woods by herself.

Naru huffed an irrate sigh before letting Lin know that he would be out and would return later. He hated doing that, much like reporting to a babysitter, even though he knew that Lin was an important friend who was simply sent along to keep him safe. He could practically feel Lin's eyes drone into him as he left the base, silently asking him where he was going, but not making a sound. Naru was grateful for the lack of prying questions at that moment, somewhat grateful that Lin had always been just as quiet as himself, if not more so.

Naru walked quickly, set on giving Mai yet _another_ lecture on safety on haunted property. More specifically, _her _safety on haunted property. He walked through the home exactly as the blueprints directed, but felt something off about the third right he took. There was also something about this house, almost confusing to the point of disorientation, though it really need not be.

But he was Naru, and being such, he found the front door quickly enough. Without one word on the crispness of the air or the sudden chill that overcame him, Naru proceeded with brisk steps, following—what he hoped was—Mai's soft footfalls.

**_14AmyChan: okay, I'm trying to write Lin in, but he's so hard to write in... LIN Y U DIFFICULT?!_**

**_Lin: *chatting online with Madoka, ignoring 14AmyChan*_**

**_14AmyChan: ..._**

**_Lin: *is still online chatting*_**

**_14AmyChan: ..._**

**_Lin: *still chatting*_**

**_14AmyChan: Lin, please..?_**

**_Lin: review._**

**_14AmyChan: ah, better than nothing, I guess. please read and review, guys~! *^_^*_**


	12. Case 1: The Briar and The Rose-11

**_14AmyChan: and we are back with your regularly scheduled Tuesday update~!_**

**_Naru: *is glaring at me*_**

**_Mai: What did you do now?_**

**_14AmyChan: I told him about my plan to own Ghost Hunt, and he was not happy..._**

**_Mai: did he rip up the plans?_**

**_14AmyChan: and told me it would never happen..._**

**_Mai and 14AmyChan: *sigh in defeat*_**

After about two minutes of following the footsteps, they seemed to be becoming more quick. Mai followed the sound in confusion. Was the owner of these footsteps trying to mislead or possibly loose her? If so, for what reason?

Great, now she was thinking all scientific-y, like Naru.

Nevertheless, when Mai was curious, Mai was more often than not determined. And so, she kept pace with the sound, not loosing it once. She passed by several trees, and many beautifully colored leaves coated the ground. Had she not been so determined to follow the sound, Mai would have most likely stopped to admire the serene scene around her.

Or even perhaps notice that none of the leaves appeared to have been stepped on prior to her arrival.

However, she did not, and instead followed the mysterious noise for what seemed to be an eternity. Then, it began to hasten its pace once more. By now, the girl was in a light jog as she kept up with the sound. Never once did she question her desire to follow it, she simply knew that follow it she must.

She continued on like that for a few more minutes. She would have to evade tree branches, sidestep bushes, and many other obstacles that slowed her pace, but not her mysterious prey. However, as she stepped into an undersized clearing beside a small river, the sound all at once ceased, causing Mai to crease her brow in confusion. She slowed down and looked around, attempting to listen, to look for a clue of any kind. There was nothing there. She waited with bated breath for a few moments before she huffed irately and she walked forward.

"Well, what was the point of me coming out here, then?" Mai grumbled to herself, kicking a poor, defenseless stone out of her path. She watched the rock skip across a couple of leaves before safely skittering away. Mai followed the stone she had kicked, venting her slight frustrations.

"Usually, when I hear something, that means I'm going to find something useful… It's not like ignoring the sound is going to make it go away…" the girl reasoned aloud as she continued to kick the stone around. Even greater, she was sulking while she was kicking around a defenseless stone while thinking rationally. She really needed a break from the office and possibly Naru; he was rubbing off on her.

"Maybe I was just imagining it, and now I got myself lost before breakfast—ah, shoot! I was supposed to tell Naru and Lin that breakfast is ready!" the girl suddenly brought her palm in contact with her forehead, frustrated at how easily she had become distracted. Her temporary inability to see, however, caused to not predict what happened next.

A sudden force shoved our favorite brunette, and she tumbled forward. She tried to find something to latch onto but found nothing, and was thus sent into the air and—eventually—the ground below. Thankfully, it was not a long fall onto soft dirt, so she her landing did not hurt quite as much as it could have.

So, logically, the ear-splitting shriek that escaped Mai's lips was not from her being injured.

* * *

Naru had been walking among the trees and was beginning to tire of this game of hide and seek when he heard Mai's terrified shriek ring through the air. Though grateful for some new clue as to where the girl was, the thought of her being in trouble or worse, hurt, caused his frown to deepen substantially.

It was not long before Naru found her. She had fallen into a slightly damp riverbed, one that would most likely be full and rushing from spring to the beginning of fall. The girl was not moving, yet from what the black haired boy could see, there was no blood. The lack of obvious injury relieved the young man a small amount, yet he reminded himself that she could have injuries that were not visible.

Mai seemed not to have noticed her newfound company, as she was staring into the side of the riverbed, her eyes wide. Naru carefully made his way towards her so he could see what had terrified her and check her over for any serious injuries, when he was suddenly faced with a gruesome-looking skull. It looked old and was caked in dirt; several maggots and other insects had made their home in its eye sockets and teeth. The sight would make one want to gag at the very least. Rather than do that, the young man looked towards his female companion, whose face was sheet white and her eyes still trained on the bone.

The raven-haired lad gently lowered himself down to Mai's level so he could look her head on. He efficiently blocked her view of the skull, yet it seemed to take a few moments for her to recognize the fact that he was there.

Once she realized the fact that he was there, Mai shut her mouth and blinked her eyes. Those same cinnamon eyes were instantly swept away into a vast ocean of sorrow before they began to moisten. The tears brimmed and overflowed without her consent, and she hurriedly reached up a hand to brush away her tears only to find that the man she respected and cared for so much was already doing it for her. Too shocked by the skull she had recently stumbled across, Mai was simply grateful for the moment. Not embarrassed, not clingy, not anything else. She was thankful that he had found her when she had been most surprised, and felt blessed for the fact that he remained while she mourned for this loss of human life.

It took a few moments of tears before she could release a few words, albeit shakily.

"Naru… It's a human…"

"I know," Naru's voice—normally curt and somewhat cross—was gentle, easing the information out of Mai in a way that she would not cry any more than she already was. He never enjoyed it when she cried. Never had and most probably never would. He was appreciative when the flow of her tears seemed to slow.

"Naru… what's he doing out here…?"

"He?" the boy who never missed a beat definitely did not miss that, especially coming from Mai's mouth. As far as he knew, she should not have possessed the ability to determine the gender of human remains based on a single bone. Said girl gulped in a breath of air, and then nodded, going with her gut instinct.

"It sounded like a man walking through a minute ago, I followed it, but then I lost the sound, it just stopped. I was in the clearing at the top of the river bed when something pushed me. Next thing I knew I was face to face with…" Mai's voice became soft at the end of her explanation. Naru did not press for any details, and for this Mai was even more grateful. Even with Naru there, she could not completely deter the wave of sadness that came with the skull she had found.

"He never even got a burial…" Mai's voice, though quiet, was heard by the ever-silent young man who sat in front of her. Though he would not say a word of it to her, he could understand the empathy she felt for this man, only because he had thought the same of his own brother for the longest time.

Wishing to rid himself of painful thoughts and to get Mai out of that place as quickly as possible, Naru made to stand up and lead her back to the house, where everyone was sure to be waiting for their arrival if not already looking for them. However, as soon as he had moved out of the way—briefly allowing Mai a glance at the skull she had found—she gasped, her eyes wide.

"Naru, look!" she cried, pointing her finger not at the skull, but at the newly hardened and cracked dirt caked above it. The scientific male turned and saw exactly what she saw.

_GO AWAY_

Big, bulking words were etched deeply into the earth, so that they may not be mistaken for any natural cracks or crevices. Even the insects and bugs from before had seemed to heed the warning, as they were all now gone. Naru inspected the fresh lettering while keeping the stench of decay out of his nose.

"Naru?" Mai's voice penetrated his thoughts, causing him to grunt in reply. He wanted to know where these words had come from, why there had been no cold spot or any other sign of paranormal activity. He could not have possibly missed it; there was nothing to distract him… nothing, yet…

"What are we going to do?" Mai asked. She knew that they would eventually have to report the body to the authorities, but part of her wondered if—no, _felt that_—this body was a part of the hauntings going on in the house. _Maybe whoever it was just wanted to be found…? But that wouldn't explain the type of attacks, forcing silence, wouldn't the owner of this body want to be able to speak, to be able to tell where he is… are they unrelated after all?_

"We're going to go back to the house and get Father Brown or Matsuzaki-san to cleanse this area. Then we'll call the police," Naru's answer came swiftly as he seemed to have finished surveying the area. He stood up straight and Mai followed suit.

As she followed her boss back to the house, Mai could not help but feel that the cleansing would not go as smoothly as she hoped. In her opinion, there were too many questions to be answered.

**_14AmyChan: okay, so there's that update~! *^_^*_**

**_Mai: Amy-chan wants to thank everyone who's been reviewing thus far_**

**_14AmyChan: YES! No joke, those reviews make me smile and keep my fingers a-flyin' at the keyboard! *^_^*_**

**_Naru: That made no logical sense._**

**_Mai: *pouts*_**

**_Naru: *sweatdrops ever-so-slightly in only the way Naru can*_**

**_14AmyChan: That being said, PLEASE REVIEW! *^_^*_**


	13. Case 1: The Briar and The Rose-12

**_14AmyChan: okay, I'm back with the next chapter~! *^_^*_**

**_Naru: *glaring*_**

**_14AmyChan: *backs away steadily* you know, there's no way I could own Ghost Hunt..._**

**_Naru: *still glaring* why is that?_**

**_14AmyChan: I don't think I could make a character as scary as you.. *hides behind Mai*_**

**_Mai: *confused* enjoy the chapter, I suppose..._**

"What happened to you two?" Ayako's voice was the first one heard, as she was the first to notice the entrance of the two. Seated around the dining table for breakfast was the priestess herself, John beside her, and the two Takanashis on the other side of the table. There were three chairs left, one at the head of the table and two next to that adjacent to it, opposite each other.

"We found something, and I believe it would be better for the case if a specific region of the forest was cleansed," Naru's vague explanation had Ayako steaming, John wanting to prevent anything rash going on, and Mai feeling the need to clarify. However, as soon as she was about to do so, Naru continued. Mai had the childish notion that he had cut her off on purpose.

"Mai will tell you the details once you are finished with your breakfast," Naru stated as he turned on his heel and left the room. Mai watched him go, remembering how kind he had been to her only a few minutes prior in the forest. He had not walked to fast, and had waited for her when she had trouble with bushes or overgrown roots. He had offered his hand three times to help her with particularly annoying tree branches and then had continued to lead the way. Mai wondered if she should hope…

"…an. Hello, Mai-san?" John's concerned voice brought the girl out of her reflections. She turned to see that the said priest had actually gotten out of his seat and placed a hand on her shoulder, which had been the actual reason for her being startled out of her thoughts.

"Yuuki-san made a plate for you when you left to gather Shibuya-san and Lin-san. Lin-san already grabbed a plate for himself and a plate for Shibuya-san earlier, so why don't you eat before you tell us what's going on?" he offered kindly. Mai took him up on his offer with an appreciative smile and followed him to the table, where everyone began to eat.

* * *

"…so we came back here to get you," Mai finished up explaining the situation to the two people who sat in front of her. Yuuki and Kagura had gone out of the house—in case Mai's gut feeling had been accurate. Yes, Mai had told the entire team that she thought the skull in the forest was connected to the hauntings at the house, wording every phrase extremely carefully.

"So, you mean to tell me that we let you out of our sight for one moment and you run off into the forest, following strange male footsteps, and find human remains? _Mai_," Ayako's tone was a cross between disbelief, disappointment, and reprimanding. Mai flinched slightly at that tone, reminding her of exactly _why_ she had come to view the red-haired priestess as a motherly figure.

"At least Shibuya-san was able to find you out there. I wonder how he knew that you were gone or even where to look," John's contemplation was greeted by silence. A wondering silence. Mai had been so worried about the skull; she had not even bothered to ask Naru how he knew where to find her. Then again, her shriek probably tipped him off.

"I screamed when I found the skull because it surprised me," Mai admitted with a sheepish shrug. "That's probably how he knew where to find me."

"But, Mai, we didn't hear anything here in the house," Ayako said, her eyes glinting. Mai looked away, a blush on her cheeks. She knew that everyone had probably taken the assumption that Naru had gone to look for her, even before she had cried out. A small bit of hope erupted inside Mai, and she quickly tried to shut it down before it could hurt her.

"It's not like he—I mean—he doesn't…" Mai's words tumbled out of her mouth, and Ayako adorned her face with a victorious grin. John sweat dropped as he took his plate to the sink to wash and put away. Bickering between Takigawa and Matsuzaki he could handle, but he knew he was no match for the teasing that Mai was about to endure. Unless…

"Matsuzaki-san, we should get ready for the cleansing, shouldn't we?" John's meek reminder stopped the red-haired woman in her tracks. She paused for a moment, thinking about it, then spun on her heel and walked off, commenting on how she would most certainly cleanse the spirit and send it on its merry way.

"Thanks, John, I owe you," Mai breathed a smile as she gathered her dish as well as Ayako's to wash and put away.

"You do realize that I won't be able to stop her next time, right?" the priest asked with a timid and slightly apologetic smile. Mai nodded.

"Yeah, but thanks for holding her off for a little bit. She'll probably forget about it by the time the case is over."

* * *

John, Mai, and Ayako arrived in the base, ready for Naru to lead them when they noted that he was in the middle of a phone call. The boss motioned for them to sit down and listen, as the phone was already on speaker.

"Did someone just come in?" Takigawa's voice shone clear through the phone, curiosity evident.

"Yes, the rest of the team is here. Yasuhara, I want you to tell the rest of the team what you just told Lin and I," Naru ordered, obviously not in the mood for repeating anything.

"Okey-dokey, boss-man!" Yasu's chipper voice came through the speaker perfectly, and the rest of the team could practically see his child-like grin. Before any could comment on his light-hearted tone, a wash of information was thrust upon them.

"I don't think the boss-man told you about the couple that commissioned the house about thirty-six years ago, Hotori and Lila Yuumei. They were a foreign newlywed couple and didn't really talk to the town a whole lot, but the town talked about them a bit too much. Everyone wanted to know what was wrong with the couple in the mountains, but no one actually talked to either of them, except one person.

"Doctor Ichiru was a friend of Lila Yuumei, the wife. He was hard to track down, but I managed to find him. He said that the Yuumeis were actually a normal couple that simply preferred to live off the land all by themselves. It seemed tough for them, but they somehow scraped by. But in the last appointment she ever made, Lila discovered that she was with child—"

"She had a baby?!" Mai's voice exploded with happiness at the prospect of new life, seemingly to have overlooked the _'last appointment ever made'_ portion. Naru shot her a glare and she sat still, awaiting the rest of the news.

"She _was going to have_ a baby," Yasuhara's somber correction dampened the mood of the entire room. Ayako frowned, Mai lifted a hand to her mouth, and John uttered a small prayer for the unborn child. Naru and Lin remained as they were. Yasuhara continued.

"Lila's last appointment was thirty three years ago, and she and her husband were reported missing a month later when she didn't return for her follow-up. They searched the mountainside for a couple of weeks before saying that the two had run off somewhere, probably abandoning the house that they had invested their lives in."

"That doesn't make any sense…" Mai's thought was cut off by one of Naru's glares being sent her way. She simply stuck her tongue out in response, but did not make another sound. The only reason Naru would have cut off her intuition now was if she did not have all of the information yet. So, she patiently waited for Yasu to continue.

"What doesn't make sense is that's the only case of missing persons in that general area. For the past thirty years, lost hikers and campers and the like would find themselves at that house, then able to find their way back to the main road and find their cars to drive back home. I've actually talked to some of the people this has happened to. They said the house was really friendly and open, and there was usually something in the oven. The story is that there's a _kind lady_ there who keeps the house up and offers refuge to weary travelers."

Mai wondered silently on this point. If the house had always seemed so friendly, then why now were the events causing harm to the Takanashi family? Had they done something unintentionally to make the spirit who resided here angry?

"So the house here was pretty much a safe haven until recently?" Ayako wondered aloud, to which she received a commotion of agreement from Yasu on the other side of the phone.

"How long until you and Takigawa-san are here?" Naru asked, his hand on the phone, poised to snap it shut and end the conversation.

"Aw, I have to return my lovely prince charming already?" Yasu's pout could be heard through the phone, as well as Bou-san's vehement denial of any affiliation of the sort with the young man. Most were complaints consisted of "Shounen, stop, it creeps me out!"

"Uh… Yasu, you may be impervious to Naru's many glares, but not everyone is," Mai interceded as she watched the glare on the young man's face become more and more lethal._ Poor John and Ayako…_ she thought, vaguely wondering when Naru's glares had stopped scaring her so much as she could interpret them now. Right now it was definitely a "get on task or so help me I will make you regret it" glare.

"Aw, et tu, Mai?" Yasuhara sighed dramatically. Mai's eyebrow twitched in annoyance. She was not on Naru's side; if anything she had said that to save her coworkers from the wrath of Naru! How dare he imply such a thing…

"We'll be up the mountain in about half an hour," Takigawa's voice intervened through the phone, allowing Mai's baseless accusations within her mind to cease. With a final farewell to the two on the road from the rest of the team, Naru snapped the phone shut and stood, eyeing each of the members with seriousness.

"The body on the riverbed will be dealt with first, and then we will come back and deal with the house. Is that understood?" Naru's voice did not lack the authority of a CEO. Everyone murmured their agreements before following the black-clad young man out of the house.

No one noticed the shift in one member's eyes.

* * *

I have to know… I have to know why I see the years simply pass me by. Why so many people have passed through my house, but no one has seen me nor my husband. I have to know why…

These people, I feel a connection to him somehow through them…

I have to know if they can lead me to my husband. Oh, the news I have to tell him…

**_14AmyChan: okay, so there's that chapter~! *^_^*_**

**_Yasu: I'm barely in this fanfic... *sadface*_**

**_14AmyChan: hey, now... *sweatdrops* you want me to make a oneshot between cases? One for each character?_**

**_Yasu: Am I first?_**

**_14AmyChan: actually, it's a tie between you, Lin, and John right now..._**

**_Yasu: GO TO AMYCHAN'S PROFILE TO VOTE WHO THE FIRST ONESHOT WILL BE ABOUT! I WILL HUG YOU IF YOU CHOOSE ME!_**

**_14AmyChan: Well, if you're going to pull that card, then whomever you vote for gives you a hug._**

**_Lin and John: *sweatdrop* how did we get pulled into this...?_**

**_Yasu: REVIEW AND VOTE PEEPS!_**

**_John: ...peeps...?_**


	14. Case 1: The Briar and The Rose-13

**_14AmyChan: I'm back~!_**

**_Mai: Do you always have to pick on me?_**

**_14AmyChan: yeah, yeah I do~! *^_^*_**

**_Mai: I'm glad she doesn't own Ghost Hunt..._**

Mai looked around the familiar land of her dreams, otherwise known as the Astral Plane. She glanced about herself, wondering if someone or some_thing_ had pulled her there before her eyes landed on someone.

He did not look extremely familiar at first glance. He was tall and had shocking red hair. His eyes were brown and his face was deathly pale. Mai studied him before she realized where she had seen this man before.

"You were in my dream when we first arrived, the one about the field! Were you the one reaching out to me before?" Mai asked, finally clicking the pieces together. However, the man shook his head, a sorrowful negative to her question.

"I am so sorry, is not me. Is my wife. She does not mean harm, I swear," the man's speech was formal and choppy, and even Mai could tell he was having difficulty communicating with her. So she stifled her giggles and decided to at least hear this man out, wonky Japanese or no.

"What are your guy's names?" she asked softly, a smile on her face. She vaguely thought about the fact that she was on the astral plane when they were about to do a cleansing. She dismissed the thought, confident that Naru would protect her. He would be mad at her certainly, but she had never doubted that she was safe with him.

"Hotori Yuumei is my name, and my wife is Lila Yuumei. We arrive here to learn land and live happy. Bad accident, never forgive…"

"Who won't you forgive?" Mai's question cut the man off. He held a mournful look as he pointed to himself. Mai was even more confused. "Why? What did you do that was so horrible you can't forgive yourself?"

"Come, I show. Then you and people leave, yes? Leave us alone?" he stated as the scene around the two changed. When the colors ceased to spin, she found herself in front of the house that the team had been staying in. It was now two stories and quite a bit smaller, with the topmost story missing and the house itself more slender. The scene was either placed very late at night, or extremely early in the morning. Mai could not tell. Still, she observed intently.

She did not have to wait long, for soon thereafter, the door opened, revealing a younger looking Hotori-san, clad in hunting gear, with a beautiful young woman. Her black hair was straight and reached all the way down to her knees, which made her already youthful appearance seem that much younger.

Mai watched as the two exchanged a loving farewell. It was in English—the language Mai vowed she would eventually learn correctly—but no one could miss the air of love and endearment that surrounded the two. Mai smiled before the Hotori-san from the memory hefted his gun onto his shoulder and walked away from the house, his boots making soft imprints into the ground as he walked. As she and the Hotori-san that accompanied her walked away, she saw the young woman wave happily after them.

It seemed that it was about ten minutes before the Hotori-san from the memory got completely lost, though Mai knew that the owner of the memory had probably sped up the clock. Mai and the Hotori-san that guided her watched as his younger self seemed to flounder about for a few moments, then turn in a sudden direction and keep going.

It was obvious the poor lad was completely lost.

Before long, the three came across a doe. The younger Hotori-san had a look of excitement and happiness in his eye, while the Hotori-san at Mai's side visibly winced from the pain this particular memory gave him. The scene rippled a little bit before straightening itself out, a small detail that vaguely captured Mai's attention. The younger had stopped short and lined up his aim. He took a calming breath before relining his aim and pulling the trigger.

_Bang!_

The doe scampered away, unhurt yet visibly frightened by the reverberating noise. The younger Hotori-san had a look of minor disappointment, but the Hotori-san at her side had a look of complete and utter loss. His pain seemed to spread, as though a fatal disease, and soon enough, the memory was hurtling through time, fast forwarding in a way that made Mai's head feel as though it were about to explode.

Flashes and images flew past Mai's eyes, eyes that—for some inexplicable reason—refused to close. She watched as the younger Hotori-san was bent over the woman he had bid farewell that very morning, cradling her next to the rosebushes. Mai could see the growing puddle of blood pouring from a small circular wound in the woman's chest.

She saw as he further guilted himself, burying his wife under the rose bushes that she loved to care for. She observed as he tortured himself, pretending his wife was still there. Then, finally, she watched as he could bear it no longer and fled from the house. She could not help him as he—on a biting cold winter morning—tripped over an exposed root and was flung into a cold river. She did not need to see the bones that eventually made their way to shore, only to be buried by years of dirt and then to be found by herself several years later.

The Hotori-san next to her was now wept freely, yet making not a sound.

"What happened to you two...?" Mai softly inquired, tears pricking at her own eyes. She now knew that the spirit haunting the house was a woman, and that Hotori-san knew who she was, but she herself could not say. Information rang quietly at the back of her mind, yet—for reasons unknown to herself—she could not access it.

"Lila died. The fault is mine. My shot missed and hit Lila. My wife…" Hotori-san paused a moment to try and collect himself. Mai allowed him to do so, knowing what the guilt of his actions had done to him. Knowing how his remorse had led to his death.

She would have reached a comforting arm out to him had it not been for her gut feeling, which told her explicitly not to do so. To not touch the crying man. How it hurt her to not comfort this man in so much agony, both before and after his own demise...

"I must repent. I must keep Lila happy. If she does not know, she is happy, I see her smile," Hotori-san explained, his eyes—wrought with grief—were determined. Set on their course to keep his wife happy and safe. Yet… to Mai, his method completely overruled his intentions. Frustration bubbled in her stomach where pity had resided only a moment ago.

"How could you possibly decide for her what will make her happy?" Mai asked bluntly, her voice soft yet firm. She would have winced at how little tact she had used, but she knew this man needed a dose of reality. Both for himself, and for his wife, who was most surely the one behind the haunting of the house.

"Because I see her smile," Hotori-san's answer rang weak in Mai's ears and in her heart. She showed her disapproval with a frown, her eyes subconsciously narrowing in an effort to dig up the truth. And the truth was that this man was afraid to tell his wife of his gravest mistake.

"You're not giving her a chance to know. I know that she loves you, and because of that, she probably already knows you're so upset. She just doesn't know why, but she's about to," Mai paused, unsure whether or not to continue. Her gut encouraged her to do so while her mind wanted her to backpedal and say it again much more nicely and with a bit more tact. She continued to listen to her gut.

"Our team is going to figure all of this out, so it would probably be better for you to tell her yourself before we do. And trust me, she would probably much rather hear it from you."

"But she will not be happy," Hotori-san's eyes pleaded with Mai to see his side, but she refused, knowing the hurt that would come of learning a loved one's secret without being told by the one in question. Her situation with Naru flashed through her mind, the hurt she had felt when she discovered how much he had truly hid from her, even though most of it was for his protection and her own good. She knew she would have rather known than have the decision snatched away from her in such a manner.

Mai was certain Lila would feel the same.

"The best thing for you two right now is for you to tell her and let her make the decision," Mai stated firmly. A thought flew through her mind and softened her features into a sympathetic smile. "She loved you then, and most likely loves you now. You can't hide this from her anymore, so you be the one to tell her, and you two can move on happily together."

Hotori-san's mouth opened, as if he were about to say something, when he was cut off by something. A wail. Heartbreaking and helpless, the cry was unfamiliar to Mai. Shrieked denials rang through and shook the Astral Plane. Mai turned to her companion in confusion only to see his eyes widen in shock.

"Lila…"

**_14AmyChan: Okay, so this case is gonna be wrapped up in the next few updates, and I really need you guys to vote in my poll!_**

**_Yasu: *looks at poll* I'M WINNING! YAY!_**

**_John: *pats Yasu's back* Congrats, Mate!_**

**_Lin: *is still typing silently*_**

**_14AmyChan: however, there are only three votes, and all for Yasu. I'm keeping this poll around to see who's going first, second, and third. So all ya'lls, VOTE!_**

**_Naru: *is yanked into room for next chapter* What?!_**

**_14AmyChan: you know what I want you to say..._**

**_Yasu: Tell them like you'd tell Mai!_**

**_Naru: *eyes narrows at yasu, who deflects it like a boss*_**

**_Yasu: *deflecting like a boss with shades*_**

**_Naru: No._**

**_14AmyChan: I swear I will make you wear a pink, frilly dress if you don't!_**

**_Naru: You can't do that._**

**_14AmyChan: No, but Luella can!_**

**_Naru: *eyes narrows*_**

**_14AmyChan: Luella and Madoka will team up with Yasu if you don't._**

**_Naru: *glances out at Audience* Review._**

**_14AmyChan: Naruuuu!_**

**_Naru: *walks away*_**


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